By JOE GRIMM
Everyone likes feedback. Especially if it is nice. Feedback that is not music to our ears is criticism. Constructive criticism helps us grow faster than warm fuzzies.
You should learn to tolerate, then appreciate and seek criticism. The first step is to use it well. Constructive criticism, which can come at the editing stage or after something is published, is not criticism of you. It is criticism of a story, decision, image, or something else you made or did. Try to detach yourself from your work — not easy — and look at it with the same outsider’s eye as the person who criticized it. It is not a You vs. Them situation, so don’t get defensive.
That’s easy to say, but hard to do. We find that all kinds of journalists — including some of the nation’s high-ranking editors — can be very defensive. On the other hand, we find that some of the newest journalist are wonderfully adept at separating themselves from their work and hearing criticism without feeling as though someone has just called them horrible things.
Using criticism to improve means understanding how you could have taken a different action or made a different decision to come out with a better result — and how you can do that the next time. That’s learning.
Many journalists — not just interns — wish their editors were harder on them. They want to be challenged to be good, better, best. Harried editors, or those who are afraid of hurting feelings, do not push enough. In those cases, push your editor to push you.
You can find more journalism career strategies in “Breaking In: The www.JobsPage.com guide to Newspaper Internships.” Think of it as a free sample. The book is available in the JobsPage bookstore.
