I want to be a journalist. It's not an easy job to be a journalist! Pros and cons of the profession

Journalism is a promising career path.

But, capable of not only working fruitfully, but also receiving a decent reward for it?

Let's start with who a modern journalist is. This is not just a person who studied journalism for five or six years, this is someone who has an excellent command of the pen (he writes in such a way that even the simplest note attracts the attention of readers).

In principle, anyone can become a freelance journalist, provided they also know how to write.

Of course, only accredited specialists are allowed to engage in professional journalistic activity, that is, those who have undergone special training and received Required documents and permissions.

Well, no one is prohibited from surfing the Internet. They don't ask about having a diploma here.

The main thing is that you have the gift of writing. To do this, it is enough to write a few trial works and a potential customer will immediately assess the level of your skill.

But even if everyone initially turns you down, don’t despair, write at least one article every day, and in 2-3 months you will find at least one employer interested in your creations.

After all, experience and constant expression of your thoughts on paper will lead you to the initial level of a journalist.

Numerous, informational resources need monthly, weekly, daily replenishment of their articles, reviews, news (depending on the frequency with which this press is published).

So, what does it take to become a journalist Internet resource? We have already found out about talent (writing abilities), all that remains is an agreement with some publication or website about writing articles and a bit of luck for such an agreement to appear.

Because today there are many more people who want to become full-time journalists than there are corresponding offers.

Finding out What what you need to become a journalist In the modern information world, we should not forget about the ever-growing competition.

Today there are a lot of free journalists (rewriters, copywriters). Of course, not all of them have a divine gift, but every second one has huge ambitions, and therefore, in the struggle for a cozy place in the sun, they are ready to do a lot.

A journalist (whether a professional or just an amateur) must constantly hone his skills, replenish his knowledge, and not be afraid at first, until fame, popularity and fame descend upon you, to knock on the thresholds of publishing houses, customers, and employers.

Because money doesn’t flow under a sitting, and even more so under a recumbent, journalist.

According to statistics, more than 50% of young people dream of becoming famous personalities. There is no more obvious way to do this than to get on the TV screen. Or maybe working on TV is what you would really like to do?

Reconomica interviewed a young journalist who managed to run errands in the studio, become a correspondent, and rise to the rank of news anchor. Daria will tell you interestingly and vividly about the profession of a TV reporter.

Hello! My name is Felbush Daria Vladimirovna. I am 25 years old. Samara city. Professional experience – 6 years. On this moment I work at the Guberniya shopping and entertainment complex.

Reporter is a dream job that leaves no personal time. Thus, everyone who has tried themselves at least a little in this speaks about the profession of a journalist. The essence is to collect and process information, visit the place and convey the atmosphere using video and text. And most importantly: talking simply about complex things is what is required of a television journalist.

All trades out of boredom, or the brave and persistent are allowed entry

In order to become a television journalist, you need to understand absolutely everything: from housing and communal services and medicine, to legislative processes and litigation. Our profession loves the brave and persistent. Leave excessive modesty and restraint for others. This is worth remembering, even during an interview.

But a pleasant appearance is far from the main requirement; the voice is much more important: timbre and the absence of speech impediments. The priority is bass rather than tenor. However, even if you have a low chest voice, there is still a lot of work to be done on intonation. I was taught this: turn on any federal channel and simply repeat after the announcers.

Most of my colleagues have “philologist” or “journalist” listed in their higher education diplomas. But I know many brilliant specialists who graduated from biology or engineering in their youth. So for a journalist it is more important to have higher education, and not its specificity.

I want to work as a reporter on television. Where to begin?

How to find a job in television or journalism in general? It’s enough to send your resume to the mail of regional channels - just like I did. Most likely, you will be required to undergo a free internship and show all your skills and potential.

During the interview, behave confidently and assertively, but do not forget about etiquette.

Get ready for the fact that you will have to work both day and night, and sometimes in a row. A pipe in the city center can burst at 4 o'clock in the morning, this definitely needs to be removed, and most likely it will be the newcomer who is sent to the emergency room. It doesn’t matter that early in the morning you filmed the opening of the sports complex. A journalist must always be ready to go on a shoot and do a good job.

The most interesting thing is what you have to do

The main task of a television journalist is to create an interesting story, and this is not easy, especially if you are filming a meeting of the Duma.

Give it, bring it, read it, make a digest

And just because you’re on TV doesn’t mean that you’ll immediately start “running around with a microphone.” I was allowed to go to filming on my own after six months of work. And all these 6 months I studied the news feed of the region, created a digest, looked for topics for experienced journalists.

Then I was entrusted with conducting surveys of people on the street; I was not even required to write text; the editors prepared the questions in advance.

The first shooting of a real report. What you need to know

After a while, I went to my first shoot, it was an art exhibition. And this is where I came in. It turns out that creating a plot is not easy. The most important thing is not to write, as we say, “press release”, so that the material is easily perceived by ear. In addition, it is necessary to keep within the timing, present it in short sentences and at the same time not miss the most interesting things and do it all very quickly.

I found out what it is "life"(video without voiceover), stand up(correspondent's speech on camera) and synchronous(20-second piece of interview, which is inserted into the story.

Typical reporting topics

When I mastered the culture, “problematic” topics began to appear in my schedule:

  • Someone’s roof is leaking, but the Management Company turns a blind eye to it;
  • The FSB caught a major corrupt official red-handed;
  • Repairing roads in the city center.

News presenter job

Then they began to trust me with interviews with top officials in the region, and after that I had my own programs, and I became a news anchor. At this time, I already had to make friends with live broadcasting and the “prompter” (a special screen where the text is broadcast). Of course, everything was not always “smooth”. She made a slip of the tongue and put the wrong emphasis, but diction and intonation are the most important things in the studio.

There have been cases in my practice when my cameraman and I went to shoot one story, but they brought two or more. It’s just that at the same time we witnessed a major accident, and this also fell into the lens of our camera. Don't let the staff go to waste. The accident became another piece of news in the issue, in the “crime” section.

And it happened that the day before I was informed about filming in the region. It was necessary to film a story about how a family opened a pig farm thanks to state support. Naturally, I came to work in rubber boots and “no pity” clothes. But filming in the village was cancelled, but they were sent to the Government to film the next meeting.

Since then, I kept an extra set of clothes and shoes at work. And one day, I was sent to film pipe repairs in the region. It was winter, and there was a terrible hurricane. The wind was so strong that I had to constantly hold on to something to avoid falling. And interviews with workers were written in the car so that there would be no sound interference.

Money question. How much do reporters and journalists earn on television?

Journalists have no such salary. But there are fees. This is both good and bad. You can't relax. Each plot has its own cost: from 300 to 4,000 rubles. It depends on the amount of time and effort spent. But the price tag for a particular work is determined by the editor-in-chief. Both work in the studio and the release of the program have their costs. Everything is also very individual. However, a salary for a journalist is not the only source of income. There are many competitions held in the country. And in many, the prize fund is money. However, I have never had any luck.

You shouldn’t get a job as a journalist out of despair. In this case, this work will take more from you than it will give. After all, the salaries of the sharks of the pen are far from oligarchic. In my city, on average, an experienced television journalist receives 30,000 - 40,000 rubles. And a beginner should be happy with 15,000 rubles. per month. For comparison,

It's not an easy job to be a journalist! Pros and cons of the profession

The biggest advantage of being a journalist: we see everything first and see what, for example, a builder cannot do, and this is very captivating.

For example, I saw how a tanker was launched into the water, how a bomb was defused, how hundreds of thousands of sterlet fry were released into the Volga, and how the metro was built. How many engineers, physicists, chefs, and businessmen can boast of this?

In addition, I attended many concerts and events for free and made a huge number of contacts. Well, it’s no secret that it’s nice to watch yourself on TV, or rather, it’s nice for parents. Reporters don't know what it is office work. We spend 70% of our time traveling. But there is no routine at all, even after 4 years you will find something to be surprised by.

Of the minuses: irregular schedule. The earliest I left for filming was at 5 am. And the latest is at 3 am. We don’t spend less than 12 hours at work, so we have to forget about our personal life. As soon as I crossed the threshold of television, my colleagues became my friends, and my best friend was the microphone.

You have to shoot in different conditions: in the attic of an old house in 40-degree heat, on a cold windy winter day in a field or forest. By the way, in winter a journalist cannot write a stand-up wearing a hat, with ears red from the frost, but not with a hat. This is the etiquette.

And it often happens that there is no time for lunch, but this only applies to correspondents. Operators and drivers usually allow themselves this luxury. You can spend the whole day filming and arrive an hour before the news release. During this time, you need to write a story, check it with the editor, send it for approval (sometimes), voice it, and be sure to be present at the editing. A squirrel in a wheel does not develop such speeds as a journalist can. But, despite all the disadvantages, once you try, you can’t stop.

What's next? Television career

After working as a journalist for several years, you can rise to the rank of editor or editor-in-chief. But it's not that interesting. Responsibilities: checking texts, layout of releases and control of the entire broadcast. Work is gradually becoming sedentary. There is no longer any need to travel to filming, travel - maximum to the studio. It is much more interesting to grow not upward, but, for example, to reach the federal channel and cover events at a completely different level. It's worth it.

Television is interesting, dynamic and addictive. If you want to keep up with the times, see and find out everything first, and at the same time you can explain even the most complex bill to your grandmother “on your fingers” - this specialty is for you. And if you choose it, don’t be afraid of your ambitions. Learn something new, even if no one has presented the information this way before. Aim at federal channels and don’t listen when someone doesn’t believe in you. Only then will everything work out for you.

The profession of a journalist is very relevant and in demand in modern world. Journalism provides many opportunities for self-realization and for communicating your views to the public. It is, of course, possible to become a journalist without having the appropriate education. After all, it often happens that a person already has an innate talent for something, and then he often does not need to be taught anything - everything works out for him by itself. Well, how can you teach someone to write, think, analyze in an interesting way? These skills either exist (then they need to be developed and used), or they do not exist and will not exist. You just need to know where to start in order to become a good and sought-after specialist. And everything else will come to you with experience and practice.

How to become a journalist without experience or education

Of course, to become a successful journalist, the easiest way is to graduate from the Faculty of Journalism, do an internship, get a job at a publishing house, and start working in your specialty. But in life, not everything always goes smoothly and as predicted. Today you will not surprise anyone by the fact that at the age of 30-40 you are going to take courses and master new profession. If you are literate enough and want to try your hand at a new field, you can sign up for special courses journalism arhangelsk.videoforme.ru, where experienced teachers will teach you how to write news stories correctly, how to publish the most popular articles, how to find and present sensational news. There are also a lot of materials and video tutorials on the Internet, and others. useful materials, which will help even beginners master the basics of journalism, for example, here “link1”. There are many examples of people reaching professional heights even in areas in which they were initially difficult to imagine, but through hard work they were able to achieve success. Journalism is also no exception. Many people want to try their hand at this industry and are wondering how to become a journalist, where to start and what to do if they have no experience in this matter. There are several tips that will shed light on the question of how to become a good journalist and can be a good “start” for anyone interested.

How to become a journalist without experience or special education

There really aren't that many options. Firstly, the simplest and most straightforward way, which has the highest probability of success, is to apply for a job at some small publishing house. Most often, such enterprises constantly have a need for new employees, especially since they often hire everyone. But then you certainly shouldn’t count on a huge salary and instant popularity. The main advantage of such work is the acquisition of very the necessary experience. In addition, in the editorial office you can often learn how to become a journalist by watching how professionals work. You just need to take into account that people most often get jobs in the editorial office from the Faculty of Journalism or the Faculty of Philology. But then how to become a journalist without education, you ask? This is where the second option is needed. Secondly, you can always take up online journalism, but this method is more complicated and more demanding in terms of results. After all, blog readers are quite picky, sophisticated and want quite a lot from journalists. However, if you succeed in this dynamic industry, you can make a very good career. Moreover, the Internet makes it possible to become popular in a fairly modest time, by applying less strength than would be necessary in a simple edition. In order to be successful, you need to be not only a competent journalist, but also interesting personality. A good outlook and extensive knowledge in various spheres of life is necessary and extremely positive qualities journalist. Being well-read will add more colors, life and interesting allegories to the texts. Knowing how to become a journalist and being smart person, you can achieve incredible heights in life.

Where to start

Having decided to take online journalism seriously, you can create:

  • a page on a popular social network (preferably several)

It is very important to be able to attract everyone's attention to your person well. On the Internet you can easily publish your thoughts, articles, observations and facts. You need to work with information that interests the public and be able to express your thoughts, and besides this, present information in your own original style - readers like this. It would be ideal to choose several relevant topics in which you will be well versed and write useful articles. On the same Internet, you can send your works to the mail of a variety of publications. Sooner or later, someone will appreciate your work and perhaps offer you a freelance position. The most successful option on how to become popular in the journalistic community is to be published in a well-known publishing house and become an employee “in great demand.”

Be prepared for hard work

Any aspiring journalist needs to be able to masterfully adapt to a difficult work schedule and manage time very rationally. It's no secret that sometimes a great article is the result of many hours of painstaking work and sleepless nights. If in your articles and notes you touch only on the most interesting and up-to-date information and skillfully analyze it, that is, there are high chances that the public will be interested in your opinion. Then you will have your own readers and followers, and then big success not far away.

The profession of a journalist has a special magic in the eyes of young people. It may seem that there is nothing difficult about it, and the only thing that is required of a good reporter is the ability to be in the right place on time. If you also learn to correctly put your thoughts into words and correctly present information in the form of hot reports, then there will literally be no end to the editors, and each of them will only dream of getting you into their publication. And then your name will become famous, you will become a welcome guest on any television program, and your fees will be described in numbers with a huge number of zeros.

In reality, everything is not so simple. The question is how to become a journalist requires more careful consideration.

First of all, it should be said that working as a journalist implies a thorough ability to speak and write correctly. If you can’t boast of this yet, then it’s too early for you to think about a career as a journalist. To get started, stock up on reference books and teaching aids and work on your literacy.

In technical terms, mastering the profession of a journalist is easier than mastering the profession of a driver, cook or astronaut. If you know how to create a story, and have at least a little luck, you can become a journalist literally today. You don't have to spend time learning the basics of the craft, as any other profession requires. You don’t have to become a student at the Faculty of Philology or Journalism. You can do anything and still be a journalist. The only thing you need is talent.

How to become a good journalist

Where to start? For those who are interested in the question of how to become a journalist, we might recommend contacting one of the local youth newspapers. If there are any in your region, feel free to go there and make yourself known.

Before your interview with the editor-in-chief, think about what kind of articles you would like to write. Perhaps it will be education and school life, sports or culture, news high technology. Indicate your interests and preferences in advance.

Even if you are unlucky and there are no youth publications in your city, do not despair. Try analyzing one of your favorite newspapers and determine which topics are published most often. Try to compose several reports yourself and send them to the editor. As a rule, local newspapers are willing to write about cultural events in the life of your city, such as premieres of plays, exhibitions, and concerts. Try to start with them.

It is important to remember that the material you offer must be relevant. If you went to a concert, write an article right away, and don’t put it off on the back burner.

At first, cooperation with the media can be described as follows: you write an article, take it to the editor, correct errors, take it to the editor, correct it again, another trip to the editor... And so on until your material is accepted for publication, and sooner or later it will definitely happen.

Thus, answering the question of how to become a journalist, you can draw up the following action plan:
1. choose one or more newspapers, talk to the editors and choose the publication that will most willingly accommodate you;
2. decide on the topic in which you will write;
3. write test articles and show them to the editor;
4. learn to adequately perceive criticism and draw the right conclusions without losing composure and self-confidence. Do not hesitate to ask more experienced colleagues to point out your mistakes.

With patience and diligence, you can make your dream of working in journalism come true.

Don't limit yourself to the bare minimum. A journalist should do more than just look for stories. Today it is important to be more than just a good writer. Go beyond the bare minimum. Strive to understand what you would like to get from the article if you were the reader in order to give him what he wants.

Make sacrifices. Journalists often have to sacrifice their free time and meeting with friends to realize your goals. Articles are written in solitude, so at times you will have to miss fun events. Sometimes you will have to sacrifice your income or close relationships in order to publish articles that highlight sensitive and controversial issues.

  • If you have to make a sacrifice, then think about what is more important to you: “Where do I want to be in five years? How will this sacrifice impact my long-term goals?”
  • Conduct your own investigations. Journalists receive information from a variety of sources, so it is important to learn how to collect, evaluate and organize information. Researching an issue is not just a Google search. It is necessary to look for information in printed sources, communicate with knowledgeable people and select relevant materials - letters, notes, personal files or dossiers.

    Expand your horizons. Learn to understand different topics, find stories, and look at facts comprehensively to become a good journalist.

    • Get a second degree to better understand a related field of knowledge.
    • Learn languages ​​to report on events from around the world.
  • Stay up to date with events and news. Read or watch the news and immerse yourself in political life countries, current events and popular culture. Any detail or topic can be important to a journalist, so stay on top of trends and constantly learn new things. This will make it easier for you to satisfy your readers' needs.

  • Check your sources. Before publishing, it is important to ensure that the information in an article comes from a reliable source. It is always advisable to find a second source that will confirm the information. If you receive facts from a source, always conduct independent verification.

    • For example, if a source says that they knew the person featured in your article while studying at university, then make sure that they actually studied together.
  • Maintain independence from sources of information and persons involved. Surely you will develop certain relationships with the sources or persons involved in the articles, but make sure that the relationship does not affect the reliability of the portraits and facts. For example, if your best friend works in the police, then the information received from him about the crime will probably be biased.

    • Never accept money from sources of information or persons featured in articles. If you are investigating a corporation, do not apply for a job with them. freelancer during such an investigation so as not to lose independence.
    • If you have an informant who provides private information about local crime, maintain a strictly professional relationship with him. If you get close, you may develop a bias against him (often unconsciously).
    • If you have become too close to your source, ask him to help you find a new person to maintain independence of information.