Two put it plainly, I don't have what traditional society would call significant experience in journalism. But allow me to exagerate one of the most life changing experiences I did have in journalism which still influences me to this day.
In the spring of 2001 I was accepted as an researcher (non paying internship it was considered) at the village voice in NYC. I hate the term internship because at the voice I rarely did typical intern tasks, no I worked as a researcher and I worked my ass off. Our beat was mostly the mob beat when I was there; officially the City/State Politics section. I worked for senior editor Wayne Barrett who is, in my mind, the ultimate in NYC investigative reporters. And being the ultimate, he drove us to great lengths and bizarro situations in order to get a quote or get a story or dig up a detail that was lost in some paperwork in some courthouse somewhere. The stories I have, well, I'll spare you for now.
On the same hand I learned during my months at the voice, that this was a profitable newspaper being run like a business. Which meant questions of use of resources, staff, and general what to spend money on and why. I noticed what had already began before my arrival, the slow introduction of business values that would trump journalistic values... more and more.. in the newsroom. While I had some hopes of staying around as a freelance writer and maybe someday.. as staff... I realized I was no one, and even if I were someone, this once beautiful newspaper would soon be picked apart and anyone threatening to address serious and complicated issues would be shut out or considered a marketing liability. I no longer wanted to work for a newspaper and I really didnt want to be subject to the whims of an editor who doesn't know me or value my opinions.
That was my mindset in 2001.