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Brandt Merritt

What do you do?
I am a sports copy editor/designer at The Palm Beach Post in West Palm Beach, Fla. I work five nights a week editing copy for the sports section, primarily golf, auto racing, high schools and baseball.

How did you get your job?
I interned at The Post in 2005, and when they had an opening in the spring of 2006 they gave me a call. I was about to graduate and liked the paper; they liked me, and I was hired. I started in June 2006.

What is the best professional lesson you learned at the J-School?
What I learned mostly by experience was the value of versatility. The more things you can do (write, edit, design, Web stuff) the better off you will be. These days it's not really good enough to just be a good writer. You have to do a lot of things well, and that's what I try to do.

What advice do you have for current students?
Pretty much what I just said. Learn to do a lot of things well. And don't get discouraged if you don't get a great job out of college, or if you aren't at the top of the food chain at your first job. Patience and hard work are still rewarded.

What is your favorite J-School memory?
Being able to design the sports front and work at the Missourian on the night Quin Snyder was fired as men's basketball coach at Mizzou. It was hectic and non-stop, but it was very real and a lot of fun. We covered just about every angle there was to cover.

Related

May 9, 2005: Two Missouri Students Prove There is More Than One Winner at the Final Four For Missouri Journalism students Angela Busch and Brandt Merritt, the NCAA Final Four was more than just a basketball tournament. It was an opportunity win a $1,000 scholarship. [More]

Dec. 15, 2004: Twelve Missouri Journalism Students Win Dow Jones Editing Internships Twelve Missouri Journalism students have been selected for the prestigious 2005 Dow Jones Newspaper Fund summer internships in business reporting, newspaper copy editing and sports copy editing. The students were among the approximately 35 picked from an applicant pool of more than 500. Each will receive pre-internship training and a weekly minimum salary of $350 for 10 weeks. Interns who return to college full-time the following fall will receive $1,000 scholarships from the Fund. [More]