All About Journalism

Hard work'n woman

Journalist's lives are filled with sleepless nights and last minute projects. They have to know what is news and what is not, and what angle would most appeal to the readers. ‘The Northland Reader' editor, Richard Thomas, painted a grim portrait of his career in journalism, filled with long hours and little recognition.

The research that we conducted suggests that the basic duty of a journalist is to gather information and then put it into some sort of form that the public will understand and have ready access to. (jobguide.com) More specifically, a journalist will have to do things such as arrange, conduct and record interviews, edit their own material and the material of others, assume a style and format appropriate for what's being reported and present the information via some sort of medium. However, this is still a fairly general description of the job. The process described above still requires the participation of many different professionals that specialize in many different fields. For example, it's common that one person will research and write a story, another person will edit and revise that story, another will take a photograph to illustrate the story and yet another person, possibly someone with no knowledge of what is actually being reported, will aid in the technical aspect of transferring the information onto the medium.

The career of a journalist can seem hectic and stress full at times, but it is a small price to pay for doing something that you love. Day in and day out, a journalist can expect to be asked to preform a wide variety of tasks, work long hours and receive little in the way of tangible compensation. Never the less, the thrill of a good scoop, the chance to expose a corporate scandal, or being able to make a difference in the world through your writing is what makes it all worth while.

Bryce Chapman, Samantha Wyffels, and Charlie Jackson