Top Careers in Journalism Majors in the US 

In today’s era of communication, people want themselves to keep updated with the latest developments. Journalism does the same for people. A career in journalism provides endless options to students. Being a journalist is not an easy job.

What is Journalism?

Before proceeding to the careers in journalism, let us get knowledge about journalism. The role of journalism is to spread relevant information about the events happening around the world. Newspapers, television, and radio are the new ways used broadcast information. Journalists play a significant role in it. Today journalism as a career is not prestigious but rather a challenging profession. The essential purpose of journalism is to enlighten and educate masses on various issues.

Today straightforward journalism is not a thing anymore. The famous quote “Pen and camera are mightier than the sword” proves correct in it. More and more specialization and professionalism are involved in journalism practices. Therefore journalists specialize in areas like politics, entertainment, economics, etc.

How to Become a Journalist?

To become a journalist, one needs to acquire a journalism degree after passing the 12th class. For postgraduate degree purposes, a graduate degree in journalism is required. Some institutes offer one-year certificate courses for which eligibility is 10+2. There are also courses in specialized areas like a photo, television, etc. The course can only educate a person in technical aspects.

Personal attributes:

An individual should have a curious mind and knowledge of presenting information in an effective and precise way. A journalist should be able to offer information in both written as well as oral form. Journalism is divided into two categories electronic and print media. Journalism involving print media consists of newspapers, journals, magazines, etc. While journalism through electronic media consists of television, radio, new media internet, etc.

Options of Career in Journalism

There are endless career options in journalism. One doesn’t need to limit itself to the traditional media jobs. The present journalists do specializations in a field like finance, education, entertainment, etc. in order to excel in it. There are to types of journalism, and career options are given below.

Print Media

 Print media offers various career options in journalism. 

• Reporter

 A reporter’s job is to provide information to the users. Reporting is a good career in journalism. As a reporter, your job would be to report the news with accuracy, speed, and clarity. The knowledge to distinguish a story and objectivity would be necessary for this role. A reporter is a type of journalist who researches, writes, and reports the news.

• Correspondent Reporter

 To be a reporter, one must have a thorough knowledge of a particular field. An individual should have the ability to read between the lines and explain the news based on their understanding.

• Feature Writer

 Being a feature writer is an excellent career in journalism that one can choose from. A feature writer’s job is to write feature articles for magazines and newspapers. The articles involve a range of topics and writing styles.

• Proofreader

 Proofreading is a required job in every publishing company. Writing is not enough. One needs to make sure that their content is grammatically correct free from errors. The proofreader makes sure the same. There’s a lot of scope of a proofreader as a career in journalism.

• Columnist

 As a columnist, one writes about a particular segment in the newspaper. The column would highlight your viewpoint consisting of fashion, politics, or films.

• Photojournalist

 Photojournalist plays a crucial role in news reporting. To become a successful photojournalist, one needs to be swift in taking pictures. A photojournalist is also essential as nowadays people need proof and not factual information. One can opt for photojournalist as a career in journalism. He/she should have technical photography skills.

 

• Cartoonist

 You need to have artistic thinking and humour to get recognition as a cartoonist. The job of a cartoonist is to comment on public personalities humorously and sarcastically. To opt for cartoonist as a career in journalism, one needs to have drawing skills as well.

Electronic Media

 The career options in electronic media include:

•  Researchers

The researcher’s job is to gather information from various sources and combine valid information. Researching is the primary job of gathering news. One needs to be creative and curious to become a good researcher.

• Presenters

It is through the presenter that we get the news from. Excellent communication skills, command over speech, and general knowledge is the need for presenters. A presenter is a good career option in journalism. It should have control over the words and facial expressions to be presentable.

Web Media

The Internet is a global community connecting millions of people. Web media is an emerging form of journalism, having many USP’s over other types of journalism. It provides news at no cost, in web media. Editing and presenting is the most essential activity for a news web portal. To become a web journalist, one needs to be capable of writing precisely. A journalist’s salary has good growth potential.