Before Christmas, I had the opportunity to hang out with some graduate students at Columbia's Journalism School. I was surprised at their optimism in regards to their profession, their career prospects and the role of traditional media houses. That surprise meant I  then jumped at the chance to talk to Sherry Noik, an editor and writer at Sun Media about what she does all day. 

Sarah: Sherry, what do you do for a living?
Sherry: I'm an editor and writer (print and online) at Sun Media, a media chain based in Toronto. I also occasionally write articles for other (non-competition) publications.

Sarah: Did you always know what you wanted to do? How did you end up where you are today in your career?
Sherry: It's funny, when I was a kid, there were exactly two things I wanted to do: work in radio and be a writer. So that's what I did. First, I spent 10 years in radio in Toronto (sometimes on the air, mostly behind the scenes). Then I switched careers and have been a writer/editor full-time for eight years.

In both cases, I started at the bottom, so to speak. In radio, I interned at a station and was lucky enough to be hired on. When I left, I sold a few articles to newspapers (I'd already had a few articles published over the years), and then kept at it. Oh - and I majored in English in university. See? You CAN do something with an English degree.

Sarah: What do you enjoy most about your job?
Sherry: I get paid to read, write, tweet, travel and talk to interesting people!

I recently tried to come up with an estimate of how many actual words I read in a typical day. I think it's probably in the neighbourhood of 20,000 (that's 1/3 to 1/2 of a short novel!). That's articles I'm editing, articles I'm reading, research and keeping up to date with multiple "news" sources (blogs, social media, etc.).

By the way, having to keep up with blogs and social media and whatever memes or trends are making the rounds is also a really enjoyable part of the job.

Overall, it's that no day is ever the same, there's no routine. I might be quietly working away at fixing subject-verb agreements one day, then get offered a great interview the next. Occasionally, I get to travel somewhere interesting in order to cover a story. At the office, it's a dynamic work environment, full of intellectually curious and creative people.

One final thing: I still get a kick out of seeing my byline on a story!

Sarah: I'll have to follow that up by asking what you enjoy least about what you do! Is there anything you wish wasn't a part of your job requirements?
Sherry: What I least enjoy: bad writing and sloppy writing (not necessarily the same thing). Did I mention I read, like, 20,000 words a day?

Sarah: The way people consume news and media is changing. Where do you see Sun Media fitting in with people's changing habits?
Sherry:I've been here a few years, and I've seen the print and online sides of the business begin to collaborate much more effectively. We're all watching what's happening in the marketplace, and trying to respond to it. That's become easier with the digital side of publishing because you can track, in real time, what content is resonating most with readers.

As a company, Sun Media is keeping its hand in print publishing, digital publishing, television and mobile apps, so I guess the strategy is to stay diversified and provide content to people wherever, and in whatever form, they wish to consume it.

As individuals, my colleagues and I are constantly adapting to and embracing the new tech tools at our disposal. We have reporters shooting BlackBerry videos, print editors creating online slide shows... And, of course, everyone (almost) is following the goings-on on Twitter - more than any invention since the printing press, it has changed the way news and content is done.

Sarah: What do you see changing in your industry over the next year?
Sherry: That's a tough call, and everyone wishes they knew the answer. Clearly, digital is the way everything's going. The trick will be how to monetize it profitably. I think crowdsourcing and user-generated content will continue to grow - but I still firmly believe we will always need trained journalists and editors to filter out the noise. (There is A LOT of noise.) Maybe I'm biased.

Thank you so much for the interview Sherry. If you'd like to know more about Sherry, you can follow her on Twitter, or check out her blog, a place for cunning linguists, teehee!