How To Start A Career In Broadcast Journalism

Looking at how cool their job is hosting on television and delivering the daily news each morning, a lot of people right now dream of becoming broadcast journalists. And who would not want to have a career in journalism? They basically have the coolest job in the planet. They are given access to the most exclusive of parties in the metro.

They talk with celebrities like they are long lost friends. They get to be on TV and get the perks of traveling and partying. They even sometimes get freebies and gifts from the events that attend. And all these they do while getting paid for doing their job!

But as glamorous as a journalism career is, it’s not all sweetness and light. In fact, when you really think about it, it can be such a bummer to go to parties and not be able to do just that, party. After all, you need to work. And I tell you, it’s not east work. Before a journalist can come up with an article or a report for broadcast, they must first interview a lot of people, they have to verify their sources and gather facts.

After that, they need to weave all those information into one beautiful and interesting article that is not boring despite all the facts that are in it. The article should not be something that one can read from the encyclopedia or from an advertorial. It must be written in such a way that is refreshing and inviting to the readers.

To do that, you need to be an exceptionally great writer. Notice that I did not use the word good, I used great. A great writing skill is needed to at least get your message across in the most creative and fun way. It can be crazy but still be comprehensible. In fact, what people call crazy may be something that is interesting to read and therefore will get more attention.

Of course, beyond the style, you also need to be able to write it well meaning with straight English and no grammatical error. That means that you also need to be well verse in the rules of English grammar. Aside from this, you also need to be able to write the article in such a way that is logical, coherent and factual. You cannot just write anything without basis. If you want to build a credible name in the industry, you need to ensure that you write only the truth and the verified.

Another important reminder in getting a career in journalism is to always be updated with the new and the fresh. You need to ensure that you are in close tabs with what is happening with the rest of the world. After all, journalists are expected to always be the first to know about the latest. How can they report it when they are the last to know?

But the latest information is not the only thing that you should be updated with. You also need to update yourself with the latest in the field. For instance, right now, online journalism is pretty big in the country. As a journalist, you also might want to update your skills in these areas so that when a big shift comes, you are well prepared for it.

Journalism Career In Broadcasting

If you are one of those who are eyeing for a journalism career but don’t know where and how to start, then now is the best time to reflect on your options and what you really want. Knowing how much do you really want a journalism career would help you realize all the things that you need to do and endure just for you to land on a certain job.

Journalism career would require the aspirant to be qualified for the job. In terms of qualification, the first thing that editors look for is the skills of the applicant in terms of writing for the newspaper industry and for the broadcast industry, the voice and the good register of the applicant's face while on camera. For some editors, if the applicant has superiors writing skills or good projection skills, he or she is qualified for the job since this is the very basic thing that person would be doing.

Second consideration would be the credentials of the applicant. Credentials include a journalism degree from a reputable school or in the case of those who have previous journalism experience, the length of years they have been in the industry. This is of utmost consideration to some employers because this will help them gauge the skills of the applicant as well as his or her capability.

Broadcast journalism

Many people are dreaming of a journalism career in broadcasting because they will have instant access to fame. Why? Imagine how popular can you get if people will be seeing your face everyday when reporting for news or specific story.

Although broadcast journalism has its perks, it also requires a lot of effort to be able to stay long in the business. To ensure that you will be doing the right thing once you are given the break in a journalism career for broadcasting, consider the following tips when on air:

1. Try to find a way to talk to people not in-groups but as separate individuals. Knowing that people would be seeing them simultaneously, broadcast journalists tend to speak to their audience in-groups. When this happens, there is a tendency to be monotone and boring. The best tip when on air is to speak to an audience like how you do it with your family members or friends.

2. Try to see your audience face in the eyes of your mind. Since you are pretending to talk to a huge number of people that are not really there, the best thing that you can do is keep an image of one person on your mind. Speak to that person according to his or her expected reaction because chances are this would be the same reaction that you will be getting from the majority of your audience.

3. Maintain eye contact. This can be hard to do in broadcast journalism but people who are aspiring for a journalism career in this field should master this. Occasional eye contact if very important because this will make your audience feel that you are talking not on a random number of people but to him or her directly. When airing, practice eye contact to the persons in that room which can either be the cameraman, the director, or even the sound engineer.

This is important so you won't lose focus knowing that there's really nobody there that you are talking to.