One of the hardest tasks to accomplish is choosing a career path that will strike a chord with one’s passion. After all, since the dawn of the desk job the dreaded 9-to-5 work has been talked about lengthily, time and time again. While some may exaggerate the details, most people willing to break into a career want to figure out the best course of action that can be taken to make sure they ‘re not bored with what they’re doing for their living.
In a diverse country like India, which has the world’s second-highest population, frequently occur newsworthy moments and happenings. As a person who is well versed in these events and who wants to keep himself or herself updated on the same topic, it may be quite possible that you would like to take the next step and create fresh news pieces from the ground up.
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Includes A Host of Specials
Journalism is not a limited career path – on this avenue, several bifurcations can go a long way in ensuring that your job never gets stale. Sports, politics, movies, technology, pop culture – your behest choices are nothing short of spectacular and show how vast this career path is.
Helps to broaden your knowledge
Analytics & research are critical facets of journalism. Hard-hitting content and insightful news articles can only be produced if a person reviews the specifics of the project to which they were assigned, and keeps himself informed about it. This profession will also allow you to expand your knowledge and stay up to date on recent events.
A profession guided by Passion
People connect a lot of items with the word ‘passion’ including their work. Although it’s true you ‘re just going to be as interested in your work as you can like yourself to be, the truth is that journalism is one particular place where people care about their job(1).
It is a competitive environment where everyone wants to do their best and that can only be done if people are truly excited about their work – a feeling that is expressed because of the exciting work involved in this area.
How to Become a Journalist – Steps
1. Earn a Bachelor Degree in Journalism
To become a journalist there’s no utter educational prerequisite. Nonetheless, whether you’re looking to work in print , broadcast, or internet journalism professionally, it’s important to show prospective employers that you have the right knowledge base and practical skills to get the job done.
One way to start this process is by a two-year associate degree programme. Yet, because journalism is such a wide area that involves science and technology reporters, and health and fitness reports, political reporters, sports reporters, entertainment reporters, as well as photographers, videographers and a variety of other professionals who can add specific specialist skills to a media project, journalists are more likely to obtain a four-year bachelor ‘s degree. Many colleges and universities allow students to become major in journalism while others may give a minor journalism as part of a wider department of communications.
2. Go to Journalism School – Preparation
Journalism school — or J School — typically applies to graduate or master’s degree programs in journalism offered by institutions such as the the UC Berkeley Journalism School, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, the Northwestern Medill School of Journalism, and the Missouri School of Journalism.
3. Take & Finish the Internships
Historically, on-the-job experience in journalism was often learned through internships, apprenticeships, and trial-and – error. Now a day, learning the journalism concepts is something that happens in a classroom, and learning the journalism practices is based on real life experience. This is supported by school newspapers , radio stations, and in some cases television production laboratories, through colleges, universities and even some high schools. Online blogging and podcasting became more popular at the undergraduate level as well.
4. Pick an area of Specialization
In the past, there were two main areas respectively, Print media & broadcast. The rise of multimedia or digital journalism as a third field has blurred the distinction between print and broadcast. Nonetheless, the current movement in journalism studies is toward convergent media, a concept based on the fact that journalists and media outlets are increasingly electronic institutions that include print and broadcast functions.
- Environmental Journalism
- Feature and Magazine Writing
- Photojournalism
- Political Journalism
- Science and Health Reporting
- Sports Reporting
- Global and International Journalism
- News Reporting
- Broadcast Journalism
- Business and Financial Reporting
- Online or Multi-Media Journalism
[ Read: 10 Top Free Online Courses With Printable Certificates 2020 ]
5. Start an Entry Level Job
There is no straightforward, narrow path to get your first job as a journalist, but there are many things that a person can do to get his or her foot in the proverbial door. Aspiring journalists will strive to provide a portfolio of work in the form of articles and/or photos written, or excerpts from radio or TV broadcasts.
6. Advance Degrees with Continuous Education
Many media experts believe that technology will continue to shortly change the essence of journalism. At journalism schools which have master’s and PhD programs, these problems are discussed regularly, both actually and theoretically. For those who are already employed professionally as journalists, there are also seminars and fellowships provided by research groups like the Poynter Institute and media outlets like the New York Times.