Newspapers don't read resumes

It's Friday so Jody bought us lunch as usual, but today we were joined by Gardiner Harris, reporter for The New York Times. He is the Times science correspondent and writes a lot about food safety and science policy.
Gardiner told us how he worked his way up from the very bottom of the industry, and about the benefits of working for a smaller paper, such as the opportunity to really know a community and hone your beat. And he told us something else, too, that was a little discouraging, but not that surprising: Newspapers don't read the resumes and clips they receive in the mail. He said the best way to break in and get your first newspaper job is to show up at the newsroom, meet the mid-level editors and hand them your resume.