Vijay Garg
These days a lot of youngsters want to make a career in the challenging field of journalism. Of course, a journalism degree offers lucrative job and career opportunities. When you talk of Careers in Journalism, terms such as job-prospects recruitment opportunities, journalism degree, definition of journalism, freelance writing, purpose of journalism, online journalism, photojournalism etc. are likely to come up for discussion.
Role of journalism in a country, particularly in a democracy, is another pertinent topic of discussion nowadays. Before we look at careers in journalism, let us give a brief look to some of the key aspects that are closely linked to the topic.
The term journalism can be defined and understood in many different ways. Broadly speaking, the act of collecting and presenting news and information for newspapers, journals, magazines, news websites and apps, radio, television or any other segment of media is referred to as ‘journalism’. The end product of all or some of these activities is also referred to as journalism. The news or reports that are collected by journalists may pertain to people, events, concepts or facts which are of interest to the masses. It is commonly believed that the more democratic a society or country is, the more news it tends to have. Such news is also likely to have a definite impact on the society, in general. Many journalists also go for freelance writing.
Accuracy, proper balance and impeccable credibility are essential pre-requisites of an ethical journalistic practice. Journalists act as people’s watchdog against the government and policy makers and media has an important role to play in this regard.
Journalists have a very important role to play in any society. They serve as a link between public at large and the policy makers or the Government. As a part of media, they can blow things out of proportion or sweep them under the carpet, on many occasions. They need to maintain a balanced approach at all times and be impartial, while keeping a strict check on their morals, values and ethics. Everyday decisions in many segments by a large part of society are based mainly on what is reported by the journalists and the media. Towards this end, even the journalists who opt for freelance writing and contribute the content to media also have a responsibility upon themselves.
A journalism degree or an online journalism degree offers lucrative job and career opportunities, particularly to youngsters who have a knack or liking for this kind of challenging work. Of late, online journalism degrees are catching the fancy of many young enthusiasts.
This helps them in freelance writing as well. Also, large scale recruitment are done by big media houses every year and it opens up huge career opportunities for young boys and girls who have such online journalism degrees. Photojournalism too offers many career options to those who possess a regular journalism degree or an online journalism degree. Some of the other career options after a journalism degree or an online journalism degree are briefly discussed below:
- Reporter
This is a basic requirement every newspaper, magazine, news agency, radio or television channel. As a reporter, your job will be to report with speed, clarity and accuracy. - Correspondent / Special Reporter
Here the person is required to be a reporter for a particular area or purpose. For example, there could be a political reporter or a sports correspondent. Therefore, you must have thorough knowledge in that particular field like politics and sports etc. You must also have the ability to analyse and explain news. - Broadcast Journalism
Often, when you think of broadcast journalism, the picture that comes to your mind is that of some well- known news anchor on the television. But there is much more to broadcast journalism than just that. Equipped with a journalism degree or an online journalism degree, you have a larger role to play behind television camera, in addition to multiple other opportunities that are available in the field of broadcasting.