I’ve spent the last two years producing journalism in a myriad of formats and the last year arguing for ways to modernize and make relevant journalism in the 21st century.

I’ve argued for reinventing journalism. I’ve argued for journalists to let go of everything they’ve ever known.

Ultimately, informing people is my passion. I care deeply about journalism. I hope that’s what you’ve taken home from my blog over the past year.

I don’t care so much what medium or what form it takes. I just care about giving people information. I just want to make journalism better than it is.

I’ve been presented with a great opportunity to do just that, which is why I’m joining the Beat Blogging project with NYU’s PressThinker, Jay Rosen. Together we’re trying to discover how beat reporters are pushing the practice of journalism using Web tools like blogging and social networking.

Jay is one of those professors who gets it. He understands that journalism needs to change, and he has actively been pursuing ways to modernize journalism with projects like NewAssignment.Net, AssignmentZero.com, OffTheBus.Net and, of course, BeatBlogging.Org. It’s an honor to get to work with someone who has dedicated his career to improving journalism.

This project gives me the opportunity to do just that: improve the practice by adapting it better to the Web. It’s something I really believe in. And when I believe in something, I give it my all.

David Cohn did a fantastic job of getting this project rolling. But now it’s his time to push the practice of journalism further with his start-up Spot.Us. David is the kind of person journalism needs more of — smart, dedicated, innovative and, most of all, entrepreneurial. He got the Knight Foundation to give him $340,000 for his innovative idea.

David knows the future of journalism will look nothing like the past. He is actively working to make journalism better. We all need to be.

I’ve been out of college for two years, working to produce content that people care about. But now I can finally say my career has begun, because I’ll get to spend everyday working on the next phase of journalism, adapting the core practice of journalism — reporting — to the web.

That’s what Beat Blogging is all about.  Right now, there are beat reporters rethinking what it means to be a journalist. They are using new tools to do their jobs quicker and more effectively, while also engaging their communities better. Those are the journalists we want to highlight.

Join me as I scour the World Wide Web for the people who are pushing the practice of beat reporting. It promises to be an informational and wild ride.

P.S. Check out Jay’s post about Beat Blogging, where he looks back at the project six months in. Jay lays out how the project has gone and what the future will hold.

Sometimes you can be your own worst enemy when interviewing for job, even if you are otherwise qualified.

Yoni Greenbaum made a post about “How not to get that journalism-related job.” All of the mistakes he lists can easily be avoided by just being a savvy job seeker. And if you’re a college student who hasn’t been given career advice, head over to career services ASAP to get resume, cover letter, interviewing and other career advice.

Here is Greenbaum’s list (head over to his site to get the full descriptions):

1. No one is perfect - Don’t claim to be perfect because no one is.
2. I’ll do anything for you - Don’t be desperate (or just plain creepy).
3. Listen to yourself - Be careful what you say during an interview.
4. Done it all - Focus your experience to fit the job you are applying for.
5. Ban the smileys and hearts - Don’t write thank you letters like you’re on IM or in 5th grade.

One of the best nuggets of advice he gives is No. 4. Many people have wide-skill sets, which is good, but most jobs are looking for a specific skill set. This mean tailoring a resume and cover letter for a specific job. It also means highlighting experience that fits in with the job you’re applying for.

Remember you’re selling yourself when you apply and interview for a job. Highlight the parts they are interested in. And never, ever (see No. 5) send a thank-you letter with smileys and hearts.

The specter of a recession certainly won’t help the journalism job market, but 2008 has already been bleak for the newspaper industry.

Graphicdesignr.net is reporting that there have already been more than 1,000 job cuts for the industry in the first two months of 2008. That’s a sharp increase from 2007. Check out the Google Map they have put together detailing where the job cuts have been.

On average more than 20 newspaper jobs are cut a day, and most newspaper companies are in a hiring freeze. The Northeast, Midwest and California are all getting hammered right now, but people still want to be informed.

Increasingly, people are turning to non-MSM sources to get news. Why? Because the MSM is contracting and covering issues that matter to readers less and less. The Web has allowed niche Web sites to flourish, while offering users a much more micro look at the world.

If newspapers were struggling mightily in good times, imagine how bleak the industry might get in 2008. Now is not the time for newspaper to bunker down, however. Good or bad economic news, change is needed at newspapers across the country.

Simply cutting positions will not turn newspapers around. In fact, job cuts will only make newspapers a less viable product for consumers. The fundamental product has to change.

Newspapers need to view themselves as platform-agnostic news agencies with compelling Web, mobile and print products. Each product should have a strong synergy with the others. None of the products should ever be a duplication of another.

The era of the newspaper being the primary way Americans are informed is over. The Web — and its mobile sidekick — are now the bearers of that torch. Print products should concentrate on what the medium can do best — provide second-day analysis pieces and striking feature writing.

Why am I still seeing newspapers that are one, two and three inches thick, filled with old news? Printed products should be much leaner, filled with only the content that makes sense for a print product to have. Newspapers should try to mimic the model The Economist has found success with.

The Economist is becoming more and more popular in the U.S. because it provides better analysis pieces than Time, Newsweek or U.S. News and World Report. The Economist has no pretensions about reporting news before everyone else. It knows exactly its niche, and it is a product that works beautifully in print.

It’s simply a better print product than a Web product, but the magazine does have a nice Web site nonetheless. That’s what print products need to be — a product that simply works better in print than in any other medium.

Most newspapers are the exact opposite.

Will Sullivan over at Journerdism has a great post with resources on how to get a better job.

He has 94 resources to help people with networking, resumes, interviewing and negotiating and places to find jobs. Even if you have a job, some of the resources can help you negotiate a better raise or a new position at your company. Newspapers are businesses, and if you don’t want to get stepped on, you better know how to play business.

His post is also a phenomenal resource for upcoming journalism grads. Here is my quick advice: make sure you have a dynamite digital resume (a printed one is OK to have around too), apply to jobs that you’ll enjoy (don’t just apply to random jobs, because it might show up in your interviews and you may not enjoy the job even if you get it), research the hell out of any company that asks you to come in for an interview, dress professionally (I’ve always gotten an offer when I wear my pinstripe suit) and learn how to interview well.

It doesn’t matter how good your resume and portfolio are if you bomb the interview. You have to sell yourself when you interview by demonstrating how your skills will be beneficial to the company you are interviewing with. It’s also very, very important to know how to negotiate when it comes to money, whether it is for a job offer or for a raise.

Your first salary out of college can greatly impact how much you make for the rest of your life. If you start off with a below market salary, it will impact every raise you get. If person A starts at $30,000 and person B at $35,000, their salaries could quickly diverge even further.

A 10 percent raise puts them at $33,000 and $38,500. Another 10 percent raise puts them at $36,300 and $42,350. What started as a $5,000 difference in salary became a $6,050 difference in just two raises. Every raise that person B gets will amplify his salary even more over person A’s.

Holiday pay? Person B will benefit more from that. 401(k) and retirement? Person B will benefit more.

Virtually every job offer has room for negotiation. It’s rare that a company will offer a candidate its best offer right off the bat. That doesn’t stop most people from accepting that offer. Remember, when negotiating money and benefits, it’s never about what you need, it’s always about what you’re worth.