In the first place, you will find that having a journalism degree is something that is going to help you a great deal. Journalism is a trade and there are some rules that you need to know. Writing for newspapers is unlike doing writing for academic sources or for fiction, and you will find that you need to master the art of using sentences in the right way and that you also need to make sure that you can use the inverted pyramid structure as well. You may find that you are going to be fairly successful working in newspapers if you have a degree in journalism or a degree in English. You will also find that getting an associate's degree in a related field can be helpful as well.
Another thing that you need to keep in mind when you are looking at getting a newspaper job is whether you are going to be able to get the experience that they require. If you want to get a job in newspapers, remember that you need to look into getting some good experience. You may want to start out on a school newspaper or on a similar job. In some cases, you will even find that you are in a place where you need to look into volunteering. This can give you some valuable experience about what goes into a newspaper and what makes your work unique. How are you going to be able to get the results that you are after and how are you going to be able to move on with it?
Also think about the kind of news that you want to cover. There are some people that are only interested in hard news stories, which involve things that are happening immediately or that have an impact on the society where they take place. On the other hand, there are definitely people who prefer to work with soft news, and this includes things like human interest stories or lifestyle stories, stories that tell you more about the way of life of a particular place. What kind of stories do you prefer to do, and what are your options when you are thinking about getting the right kind of job? The industry is competitive enough that you might want to look into how you are going to be able to move ahead and getting any job at all, experience will help leverage you towards the job that you really want.
Remember that when you are looking for a newspaper career that you need to look into finding your job online. For instance, JournalismCrossing.com is just one site that reports on journalism jobs all over the country. Make sure that you look into the state or states that you are comfortable living in. Remember that you might be looking at relocating several times in your life, so get comfortable with the idea from the very beginning.
While you are job hunting, do not stop looking for work through freelancing. You will find that there are many local publications that will let you work part time or as a freelancer and getting some sales under your belt can get you more attention. You may even find that a part time position can be leveraged into a full time position in this way.
Getting into journalism can be tough, but it is far from impossible. Take some time and look into what your choices are and what you can do to make your chances a little bit better.