Starting a Career in the Media
Many journalists enjoy a challenging career that combines a love of writing and a willingness to take risks. Their job duties range from covering events to reporting on the latest gadgets and gizmos. At the heart of all careers, however, are the fundamental tasks of gathering, managing, organizing, and disseminating information. To meet their objectives, journalists need to know where to find the facts they need, how to present them in the best possible way, how to select and develop stories, how to follow leads, how to write editorials, how to edit articles, how to produce and publish multimedia, how to prepare reports, how to write bookends, how to develop images, how to make web videos, how to compile research documents, how to edit slides and much more.
What Is Involved In A Journalism Career?
Journalism Career Types A prospective journalist will need to decide what sort of freelance work he is interested in. He may choose to work as a feature writer for newspapers and magazines or as a news reporter for television or radio stations. There are also generalist journalism careers for people who prefer to specialize in a specific field. These include staff reporters, copy editors, broadcast producers, news readers, fact-checking editors, conference call reporters, broadcast designers, video producers, web producers, radio producers, event planners and editors, photojournalists, TV show production assistants, audio technicians and more.
Graduation and Certification The minimum educational criterion to become a journalist is a high school degree. In the United States, the graduate school requirement is merely a bachelor’s degree. Some media careers require only a master’s degree.
Attaining A Media Job
Media Jobs In the United States, there are a number of employment opportunities for journalists. Most news organizations require regular employees to be trained on a full range of media jobs including broadcast, print, internet and radio. As well, most broadcast stations require journalists to have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree. The median salary for journalists is around forty thousand dollars. The highest salaries are paid to reporters and anchors who perform investigative reporting and special reporting projects for local, national and international news networks, radio or television stations.
Reporting Jobs covers a broader field than most other journalists. A reporter can work in a variety of reporting fields and have various areas of specialization. These could include healthcare, business, education, government, communications, sports, business, travel, non-profit and sports coverage. The reporting jobs available through the major media outlets fall into two categories: general assignment reporting and soft news/ mass communication reporting.
Other Specialisms In Journalism
Soft News and Mass Communication Journalism require detailed reporting skills and an in-depth understanding of the industry. These journalists must possess skills in writing composed of both text and graphics. They must also possess excellent interpersonal skills to communicate their reports effectively. Most journalists begin their careers in a reporting job and then progress to a broader range of media employment. Graduates of a reporting program are usually equipped with good research, written communication skills and the ability to analyze a situation. Those who are unable to gain employment at a journalism career center may develop internships in local media outlets or other related industries.
