I therefore used different instruments and tools to research, using not only the programme in college I had access to, called Odyssey but also using the internet and browsing through general newspapers to find different wages paid by companies in my area. As it is visible, in particular places my estimated times for research were much faster than what the actual research time took, and this helped me understand that I do often take things for granted, such as using the internet freely at any time, where as this is not always possible therefore prolonging the time it took to complete this task.
Education/qualification pre-requisites
It is an interesting career, as journalism states that although a degree in media or English language/literature is indeed helpful in gaining a position in a newspaper, qualifications past A-Levels are not essential. However, it is guided that a degree or very high standard A-Levels will improve possible chances of being awarded a job in journalism in a professional paper or magazine.
In my case, university was not a possibility but a definite regardless of whether a degree was “needed”. However, it was nice to be reassured that there are still possibilities open to a writer in journalism if no degree is acquired.
The information about needed education was researched not solely on Odyssey the CD-ROM but also gained on the Internet from different research website focussed on journalism such as the ‘School of journalism, cooperative education programme’. This, as later noted, turned out to be a huge bank of information that helped me research and discuss the different possibilities of becoming a journalist.
What the Job involves
By using odyssey to search and acquire information I was intrigued to find that as a journalist a hard amount of research must go into finding your stories before even considering writing them. In Odyssey I was told ‘ Journalism is an interesting, rewarding and often exciting profession but it is also extremely hard work. When searching the internet I found a more biased view of Journalism as a great career which although helpful did not give me a balanced argument for giving this career a thought, as it was dressed up to look glamorous ignoring the hard work and difficult hours. Although it may seem like an obvious perk of the job, I didn’t realise how likely it is that as a journalist one would travel around the country/world to get different stories, but at the same time have a stable base in an office where the task of writing can be carried out. These fundamental facts had never crossed my mind whilst thinking of becoming a journalist, and finding out these did change my opinion on journalism, a career, rather than a dream.
Odyssey however, did give information on the irregular hours and the hectic busy schedules held by most journalists leaving little time for hobbies or other such time using activities.
Also, it is interesting to look through the internet, as specific generalisations were made about journalists as being the paparazzi who forcefully stir and twist different images to damage the reputation of celebrities, which is not fair considering there are few journalists who would go to such lengths to write an up to date story. This did however show what different connotations would be made with me, were I to become a journalist, which although not a major issue did worry me slightly.
Career Progression
It is interesting to find that initially as a journalist, you are not likely to be paid a great deal at all. In fact as a starting point most journalists earn as a trainee in local paper proximities of £8000 to £12000 pounds, on a magazine and from £14000 to £21000 in radio or television.
The career then moves up to becoming a professional journalist with experience, earning approximately £15000 to £40000 a year. This is then followed by a career as a senior journalist or national newspaper editor, where one can expect to earn £100000 or more, which in comparison to the initial pay is a huge increase.
It is also interesting to discover that freelance journalists do not have a set pay and negotiate their pay for each set piece of work. I found this quite unsettling, and it did edge me towards opting for a full career in journalism rather than being a freelance journalist as I would prefer to have an annual income of a certain amount rather than varying amounts, depending on the work completed. This does not seem fixed to me and could cause problems with future plans.
In my case I would like to believe that I would follow a career as a professional journalist for a respected paper such as the guardian. I would love to be given the possibility to travel the world, and as I have a large interest in photography I would also like the possibility to not only write which I highly enjoy but also to photograph the news as I see it happening. The different chances, following journalism are careers such as broadcasting, reporting and editing which would all be fantastic careers to pursue.
Different searches entered into different search engines, using different quotation marks and so forth to narrow down the search.
Divided initial group number of hits by 100 because too large on graph otherwise however the same effect is gained.
Using the internet as my source I found various web-sites with different people sharing their own experiences of journalism as a career and in more cases than not the pure fact that these people made a living out of travelling, writing and doing things they enjoy sold journalism more than immediately to me as a career.
The example above shows a website that gives information to students about Journalism and different following careers that may come from taking this subject. Also information is given to current Journalists about different ways to apply for Jobs, different ways of setting out CVs and other such useful information. Also, it is good to see that this website hosts a job advertisement section just for Journalists to browse through and this would indeed help an up and coming journalist to find a job. Although I am still not certain that Journalism is my set career, and as visible in the searches I made, I would still consider teaching as an option, I feel much more informed about journalism, and can give credible consideration to it as a career rather than just as a dream.
It is amazing that with such a small amount of time such a large amount of information can be found out about a career such as journalism and although it seems like a short-term career, from the information discovered in this project I feel that I could base my main career in journalism. However, with the other information also found out about teaching, if I felt uncomfortable with the lack of timetable with journalism, I could consider teaching as a career in later life, as this is also a possibility.
I feel this project has been a huge eye opener and has helped me feel much more comfortable with my future plans which are now blossoming.
