Doug Ray graduated from SIU, but did not go to graduate school, as I had mistakenly suspected. Most people just have their bachelor's degree when entering the work force. I guess I always knew I wanted to be an editor, it was one of my goals. He had a small internship at a hometown paper which he stresses is very important. It's almost essential to have an internship.
References are very good from someone in a work environment.
Curious about the job market at present, I asked how the job prospect was looking. Sometimes there are hardly any, but now there are just pages and pages. He has a few last tips, and he eagerly shares them with me. You should want to know the 'why' of things. Being curious and information-hungry are important characteristics that journalists need to possess.