Journalist

Overview

Life as a journalist is about covering stories. Journalists are some of the most passionate, driven and creative people out there. Journalism is an ideal occupation if you enjoy a fast-paced environment with new challenges and opportunities daily. You will need to hustle a lot to bring stories worth sharing. If you believe you have passion for news and the inner drive to chase and grab it with both hands, then journalism might be the right career choice for you.

Two main distribution channels

Print – Newspaper, Magazines, Journals
Broadcast – Radio, TV, Internet

If you are comfortable appearing in front of camera you can look into Broadcast Journalist/Presentator. Print journalist mainly works only with newspapers.

Opportunities in the Business World

Business Journalist or Public Relations Executive
In Advertising and Marketing Communications
Technical Writer

Last updated: June 29, 2017

Basic Details

Career Industries Media/Journalism Arts English
Compatible Personalities Enthusiastic Intelligent

Workplace

If you are out on the field you will be talking to sources and covering various incidents. Then later you will be joining the editor to structure your story. There are broadcast journalists who report news from the studio.

Potential Employers

You will be employed by main stream medias or social media channels who covers various topics. It can be news, entertainment, finance or business. As content marketing is getting more popularity, journalists can play a very important role is creating original relevant content for businesses.

Newspapers
Magazines
News Channels

Freelancing is another option. As a content creator you will be hired by various organisations to create content for them.

Requirements

Education

BA Journalism PG Diploma Journalism

Skills

Reporting
Research
Communication
Social Media
Analytical
Networking
Storytelling
Leadership
Linguistic
Writing
Short Hand
Math

What should I know?

You need to know how to research, investigate, gather information, analyse and report. Write and get your work published. Do some local news reporting on your own.
Networking (Very Important) – Get to know a lot of people and keep in contact, so you build trust and relationships. You need to have good general knowledge.
If you are planning to focus on any niche area it may be better to purse your under graduation in that area and then a post graduation in journalism or mass communication.
Your social media presence is really important to get noticed. You need to write blogs, do local news reporting and build a portfolio while you are in college you to land in a job you want once you graduate. They day you start your course you should become a Journalist.
Have basic knowledge of CMS and Web Languages and know how to build a simple website.

Is this career suitable for me?

Even though writing skill is important, finding relevant stories and reporting in is what makes one a great journalist. So if you think with your writing skills you can become a journalist you are wrong. You need to have other skills as well.
Journalism is not for somebody who prefers a 9 to 5 job and craves for holiday breaks all the time. Journalism is a 24X7 job and all legendary journalists are tuned with the fact.
If money is what drives you journalism may not be for you.
You must be a good public speaker and should have good command of language and confidence. You should be fair, balanced, logical and should be able to argue using language.

Pros & Cons

There will be pros and cons for all jobs. A pro to you may be a con to your friend. So choose your career wisely according to your point of view.

Pros	Cons
No two days are never the same.	Less time for personal life.
Immense scope to learn on the field.	Not a highly paid job during the initial days.
Get to meet and talk to a variety of people from all walks of life.	Work can be long, unpredictable hours and under a lot of pressure/stress.
Can work on challenging and exciting projects, along with passionate and informed people.	Demand may reduce in the future due to digital revolution.

Overview

Two main distribution channels

Opportunities in the Business World

Basic Details

Workplace

Requirements

Is this career suitable for me?

Pros & Cons

From the blog

I wanted to be an archaeologist, but I became a Business Journalist.

A career in Journalism is 100% challenging and demanding

How do I know if a career in journalism is for me?

Additional Notes

Books to Read

Profiles to Follow

Websites

Blogs

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