David Von Drehle - Advice to journalism students

David Von Drehle, an editor-at-large at Time magazine, covers national stories and politics, and has written cover stories that include a profile of U.S. Sup...

My advice is, "Work, work, work." I mean, the way to get better as a writer, as a broadcaster, at anything, is to just keep doing it. So, writers have to read, read, read, and see what works for them, what speaks to them, and try to break it down and figure out, "How did the writer do that?" The same for a broadcaster. You need to look at the people who communicate effectively, that you admire, that have a kind of a style that you'd like to adapt, and really study their work, figure out what they do. How do they tell stories? What voices do they use? What techniques do they use? Second piece of advice I'd use is when you get those first jobs, internships, entry-level jobs: Get there early. Stay late. Put your hand up. Say "Yes" to everything. Because that's how you get the chances to get the experiences that help you distinguish yourself from the pack. You just do it, do it, do it, and it'll pay off.