Classification: Newspaper Publishing

Barry has been in the newspaper business for about 30 years, most of which was at the Edmonton Journal. He purchased the Sylvan Lake News in 1993 and has since started the Rimbey Review and Eckville Echo newspapers. He has been very active in the Alberta Weekly Newspaper Association and even traveled to the war torn country of Sierra Leone in Africa to help rebuild newspapers there. If you are attracted to variety in an occupation and like excitement, then the newspaper business is probably a good fit for you. No two days are the same, you meet a lot of different people and receive a great feeling of accomplishment each time that week's issue of the newspaper hits the streets. The ability to follow sometimes complex issues, and do so under well defined time constraints is definitely a characteristic that you will use in the newspaper business. You must like to meet people and have a curious nature. Being able to juggle many projects at the same time is also a necessity. Necessary education depends on which aspect of the business you plan to get in to. There are quite a few good journalism schools in Alberta and graduating from one of them is a definite prerequisite. There are also a number of courses available in the sales and marketing or business areas if you would prefer to go in to the advertising or managing end. The present day newspaper business has become a very technical occupation and a strong working knowledge of the computer field has become necessary. Newspapers will take on working interns from a journalism school to give them actual "hands on" experience in the field so they are well suited to have an interested student look over their shoulders to learn about the fascinating world of reporting the news.