Is Journalism the Career for You?

For as long as there have been stories to tell, there have been writers, reporters, news readers and others to tell those stories.

Journalism is the art and practice of collecting information or news and disseminating it to the people who need it and can best make use of it. Be it news for and from the community, the town, country or beyond, the journalist’s role is to bring all that information to one place in a way that makes sense.

Over the years, the roles of journalists have grown and evolved as the times have changed and the need for these roles have also shifted. From being a gate keeper for information, deciding what news the public gets to know to now being more in charge of verifying what is already out there since it is all so readily available.

There are many kinds of journalists in this world and depending where your interests lie, you can find yourself filling any of the many posts.

In print journalism, the sector that deals with the production of newspapers, magazines and the like through the written word, you can be a news, business, finance, court, music, fashion or lifestyle reporter.

These are called beats, the area of journalism which you deal with and cover mostly. Journalists discover and develop skills within their beat over time and can change as well depending on their interests.

There is also broadcast journalism, the kind of reporting that is written and compiled to be aired on television or radio. Journalists here also have their beats and areas of expertise.

Online journalism, a fast growing medium in this ever growing digital world, is keeping up with news on the world wide web updated through the digital medium. This type of journalism is extremely visual and moves at an extremely fast pace as sites can be updated constantly.

For news reporting, there is a certain style journalists use to put a story together called inverted pyramid style reporting which means the story is started with the most important news first and then background information. A reporter will answer the who, what, where, when, why and how questions and create the story from that.

Fourie Nhoni, a third year Journalism student at The Polytechnic of Namibia, started studying journalism because she always had a dream of being able to be a broadcaster. “From a young age, reporters fascinated me and I could definitely see myself doing that.”

Right here within our borders, there are opportunities to study journalism and follow any of the many paths. At the Polytechnic of Namibia, there is a Bachelor of Journalism and Communication Technology degree which will take you three years to complete. It is a blend of theoretical and practical work in many different fields from script writing for television broadcasts to news reporting in its simplest form.

The University of Namibia (Unam) also offers a four year Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies. This is an honours degree which will allow you to specialise in either Print Media, Broadcast or Public Relations.

A lot of the jobs in the media need you to be talented and to have passion and commitment for what you do.

Fourie agrees. She says that if she had to speak to a potential journalism student, she would tell hem to first make sure that this is absolutely what they really want to do and will love.

“Journalism is a lifestyle. You cannot just do it for the sake of it,” she says.

Like any profession or field of study, there are both positive and negative aspects that come with the job. The best thing might be the fact that you are often able to express your creativity through what you do. You also get to meet many new people on a regular basis and go to a lot of places and experience many different things.

You get to make a difference in your community, town or country and give out information that is needed, while keeping leaders in check, holding them accountable for their words and actions.

The not-so-fun side of the field is that the pay is often not great and the hours long. Many people do not enjoy talking to the media as well and you might meet one or two people with some choice words for you.

Journalism is an art and as long you enjoy every minute of the process and continually seek to learn and grow, you will flourish.