Very few things scare me as much as finding a job after I graduate. Work is scarce for soon-to-be college graduates, especially if you decide to venture into the field of journalism.
Tom Witherspoon, the one and only editor VYPE magazine of has ever had, helped ease those notions with his visit to class last week.
Witherspoon believes niche publications, like VYPE, will remain popular as print journalism continues to deteriorate. These narrowly focused publications will continue to provide jobs for writers long after the bigger publications disappear.
Niche publications are more popular than ever. You can find magazines and Web sites on everything from motorcycles to cooking to tattoos.
VYPE found its success covering high school athletics, which is popular in this area.
The high school sports market is big and there are plenty of opportunities for freelance growth with the expansion of the online market.
“It’s a larger demographic than you would think,” Witherspoon said.
You may think that no one reads a magazine whose content is filled with high schools kids from small towns, but that’s not true.
VYPE and its competitors like Catch It Kansas employ plenty of writers and bring in a lot of money from local advertisers.
Its one Achilles heel is the long shelf life. The stories in VYPE could be five weeks old by the time it’s pulled off the shelf.
The publication must focus on in-depth features and good photography instead of box scores and statistics to keep from getting stale.
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