I know its been a longgggg time since I posted anything as awful as this may sound I'v been so busy the past couple years I pretty much forgot about this blog. But I'm back now and plan to update as much as possiable. To start things off I have a guest post from Author Pam Johnson that I think you will all find as intresting and helpful as I did!
A Day in the Life of a Journalist
Many individuals, especially those who are just starting to take some journalism classes in school, are wondering what the life of a journalist is really like. Well, it can vary from job to job, but here's some information to give you an idea.
Varying Schedules
In the field of journalism, you're not very likely to work the traditional 9-5 hours. After all, news can happen at any time of the day. If you're covering hard news story, you will probably be working at least some evenings, nights, weekends and holidays. Individuals who are working in other jobs in journalism, such as posting local event listings or submitting a series of garage sale listings, will likely have more of a morning through evening schedule.
Asking Tough Questions
When you're a journalist, especially one who covers a lot of hard news, you're going to have to be outspoken and extroverted. Even if a serious issue has just occurred, you need to be willing to walk into the middle of it and ask big questions of the right people. Remember, think about what you want to know when you're reading a news story. These are the types of facts that your own readers will want to know, and you have to get to the bottom of these stories as accurately and quickly as possible.
Fast Paced
Speaking of the word quickly, a fast paced lifestyle is what most journalists encounter. The news is constantly happening and evolving. Furthermore, your editor is going to want to make sure that your paper gets to the news first. If someone else has already covered the story a couple of hours before, people are likely to check back with that news source for updates. Additionally, the news changes so rapidly. Right now, the biggest story could be a car crash downtown, and in an hour, you might need to completely switch gears and provide an accurate report of the local high school team's game against its biggest rival.
Understanding Technology
So many business atmosphere are changing due to technology, and journalism is absolutely not an exception to this rule. In fact, you may even be required to post news from the spot as you are on the scene through Twitter, Facebook or another type of medium. It's also imperative, at most jobs, that you know how to use a digital camera and a video camera. Depending upon the line of work you are in, you might have to obtain these items for yourself. Other newspapers operate solely online, and most of the journalists never even see the physical location; therefore, you will be responsible for uploading all of the necessary information onto the computer in a short amount of time.
As you can see, the day of a journalist is going to significantly vary depending upon for which company you are working. Some are more old fashioned, and others will require literally up to the second information that is transmitted through the use of some piece of technology.
Author Pam Johnson is a writer who enjoys a variety of subjects to write about, including best online college for accounting
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