Alumnus returns to ‘journalistic birthplace’ after 25 years

Four seasoned journalists visited the City College Times on Tuesday, Nov. 5, offering advice to students based on their journeys in the industry.

Marcos Breton, Mack Lundstrom, Michael Cronck and retired City College Times adviser Art Carey answered questions and spoke to students about their experiences.

Breton was a former staff member of the City College Times and is now a columnist for The Sacramento Bee, and Lundstrom is the adviser of San Jose State University’s Spartan Daily. Cronck used to be a reporter for San Jose Mercury News.

Breton was editor-in-chief of the City College Times in 1983. He recalled writing articles with manual typewriters and thought the Times was a high-end newspaper when they converted to electric typewriters.

Breton said his career advanced in baby steps, and the learning curve consisted of a lot of mistakes.

“Mistakes are how you learn,” he said, and “reporting is hard work; you must learn how to listen.”

Another piece of advice from Breton on writing stories was to be as descriptive as possible.

He said it is important to be attentive to the moment and to show a story rather than tell it to keep readers interested.

“My main message to the Times staff is one of encouragement,” Breton said. “All of us have the ability to surprise ourselves and to surprise other people.”

The four journalists agreed that the industry rules are changing every 10 minutes so being flexible is essential.

“The Sacramento Bee cut staff by 12 percent this last year,” Breton said. “A big problem now is advertisers are working through their Facebook page; so Macy’s, which would spend a lot of money in the Sacramento Bee, is spending less.

“They say, ‘What do we need you for?’” said Breton.

A question for all newspapers seems to be how to deliver news and monetize it for profit.

The discussion shifted to “convergent technologies” impacting the training of a journalist.

Today’s reporter must be trained in reporting, writing, photography, videography, broadcasting and multimedia.

The journalists agreed the more skills you have, the more likely you are to get your foot in the door in terms of employment.

Several students found the advice to be quite helpful.

“I am in a transition period of my life,” said Aisha McCullough, 39, undeclared major. “This helped me understand the changing industry of the media should I move forward as a writer.”

The discussion ended with the observation that the journalistic skills of gathering, analyzing, and disseminating information will serve students well in whichever field they choose.