Becoming a Journalist

Becoming a journalist doesn't happen overnight, and it requires skills in addition to good writing.

Finding Work as a Journalist

Find Your Niche

Whether you hope to find a staff position or plan to work as a freelance journalist, it's important to find your niche. With all the different options available, you'll have a variety of possibilities to consider that fall into these two categories:

• freelancer
• in-house writer

Becoming a Journalist as a Freelancer

Freelance journalists pitch ideas for news articles to a variety of newspapers and magazines. This includes:

• news publications
• magazines
• trade journals
• publications within specific industries

Freelance journalism is a challenging way to make your living as a writer, but if you enjoy hunting down story ideas, traveling to pin down the story and then writing it to meet a tight deadline, this can be a rewarding career, albeit hectic. Freelance journalism leaves more room for personal creativity than working as a staff writer.

Freelance Newspaper Journalism

Most of the time, writing as a newspaper journalist involves a narrower range of subjects than what is found when writing for magazines. As a freelance journalist you'll have to pitch your idea to receive an assignment. Newspaper articles are often:

• Significantly shorter than magazine articles
• Tighter focus on form - Newspaper articles most often adhere to a hierarchical format in which the most pertinent information appears at the beginning of the article and the least relevant is last.

When writing as a freelance newspaper journalist, your skills must include sniffing out the news and will require interviewing people with pertinent connections to the topic you are covering and selling your idea to the publication you're targeting. Once you get the okay, the day is spent gathering facts, checking them and then writing the article within the deadline set forth by the newspaper.

If you have an idea for a feature that is appropriate for a particular section of the paper like the health or lifestyle section, deadlines may not be as short because they usually come out weekly.

In-house Journalists

Unlike a freelance journalist, if you work in-house, your writing will be limited to a single publication. If you decide to seek an in-house position as a staff writer, it's important to determine a career path that interests you because you won't have the variety a freelance journalist experiences. These can include things like:

• Newspaper reporter
• Investigative reporter
• Foreign correspondent
• Broadcast journalist
• Photojournalist

Education

Earning a degree in journalism, communications or English will prove beneficial if you want to pursue a career as a journalist, though some writers do find work without a degree. Most of the time, if you don't have a degree, journalistic jobs include working for smaller publications or community newspapers.

Networking

Another tool to help find work as a journalist is networking, especially if you are freelancing. This is accomplished online and in real life. This includes:

• Family and friends
• Members of clubs or associations you belong to
• Coworkers
• Meeting people in the field
• Writing workshops
• Journalism classes

If you plan to be an in-house journalist, another good idea is to seek an internship while you're still in college to help you get your foot in the door. You can find opportunities with a variety of media outlets including newspapers, magazines, television and radio stations which offer internships. If you're interested in taking this route, peruse the company's website for internship information online.

Are You Cut Out to Be a Journalist?

Not all writers are cut out for becoming a journalist. When considering a job as a journalist, you'll want not only to be successful but happy in your work. In order to accomplish this, you'll need to be inquisitive and have a nose for a good news story. Along with this you'll need to:

• Utilize high ethics at all times
• Be trustworthy with sensitive information
• Be able to relate to all kinds of people
• Hold an unbiased attitude so you can report the facts rather than your own opinion.

Journalist Resources

No matter whether you're a freelance or in-house journalist, finding the news worthy of reporting along with experts to interview can be a challenge. The following resources can provide ideas for both:

• NewsWise.com
• The Yearbook of Experts, Authorities and Spokespersons
• PR Newswire

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