Career in Journalism: An Empowering Professional Journey in the Making!
Are you an excellent public speaker and always take a keen interest in global news?
If yes, then a lucrative career in journalism might be your right fit!
A degree in Mass Media is required to pursue the same. Furthermore, participating in citizen reporting, organised by newspapers and asking ordinary citizens to write about their city or a current trending topic, is a great way to get started in a journalist career.
It will not only provide you with experience and exposure, but it will also help you build your professional network.
Exciting Career in Journalism: How?
A journalist’s life is not like a corporate job.
Journalism spells adventure, and one always needs to be on toes.
As a journalist, you get to work as a reporter, writer, editor, and publisher for newspapers, magazines, television stations, radio stations, and other media organisations.
You will be responsible for presenting the truth to your readers without prejudice.
Journalism offers one of the main advantages of shaping public opinion. Meeting new people from various walks of life help form connections and build a network.
Qualities and Skills a Journalist Owns
- Resourcefulness – This reflects how determined and motivated you are to achieve what you want, how many people are you able to reach, and how good you are at extracting information.
- Depth – It refers to the amount of research conducted, the versatility of insights, and the reliability of sources.
- Communication – That is self-evident. You’re making an attempt to communicate with the rest of the world!
- Writing Quality– Language and grammar are critical components of persuasiveness.
- Credibility – There is a lot of data to process. You must have the ability to analyse and synthesise what’s important.
Career as a Journalist
Promotions in the media industry are always based on your performance, news reporting skills, and passion.
So in order to advance and explore allied media career opportunities, you might want to choose to pursue a higher journalism degree.
Content/Creative Writer
If you are a writer, you should explore diverse topics such as politics, finance, sports, and entertainment.
As a city reporter, a senior reporter, and a resident editor, you will be assigned various roles. With experience as a journalist, you may be upgraded to writing columns, editing news pieces, or planning and overseeing content instead of reporting news.
News Editor
You can advance as a News Editor, having overall control of the news, if you have the necessary skills and organisational acumen. You will be in charge of supervising writers, assigning tasks, and revising and finalising the copy.
If you have advanced in your journalism career to become an editor for a smaller newspaper, you may handle all editorial duties.
Audio / Visual Production Specialist
Media professionals who present and publish audio and visual related material in digital and print media are audio/visual production specialists.
Futuristic Careers in Journalism You Can Explore
Thanks to digital media and news personalisation, numerous career possibilities have arisen.
Career professionals may explore allied media career domains or stick with their current occupation and become masters at it.
You can take up various competitive job roles in advertising and marketing firms as well as PR agencies.
- Brand Manager
- Anchor
- Social Media Manager
- Digital Strategists
- Influencer
Apart from all this, journalism, like any other industry, has its flaws.
The cause of concern is the job stress and an insufficient work-life balance.
Also, the Print industry is dying a slow death, which has caused a lot of distress among media people.
With revenue and readership falling down, budgets are shrinking.
The digital has taken over, mostly.
Twitter and Facebook have today transformed how people consume news. However, new media and online channels are emerging to channel these energies.
The Final Take
Overall, students aspiring for journalism will have a tremendous opportunity to network and build their professional circles, significantly developing a solid foundation for establishing themselves in media careers.
