I would like to know what would be a good way to beef up the brain for someone who’s going back to school to study journalism. What good books should I read? What subjects should be given special attention to? Politics? Science?
Any ideas and your experiences are greatly appreciated.
The 5 W’s and 1 H.
You know what they is.
Journalism used to be a very working-class profression. It was craft you learned on the street. Which was the best way to learn it. Like a cop. The best cops don’t spend 10 years in the academy, they learn their craft on the street. Same for reporters. The best reporters were the gritty boys who told you it straight, from the war front. Reporters today are college boys who tell it to you straight, from the press packet.
I was a reporter, for a very short time. It was all about that press packet. All you had to do was condense that press packet into a 12 inch news column. It didn’t exactly stretch my imagination. Compared to genuine writing, it were just regurgitatin’.
I see all sorts of garbage on the BBC that has obviously just been quoted from the press packet. Occasionally I feel inspired to write to them and give them a piece of my mind, but I haven’t got much left so I’ve stopped.
eg, a report about the motorway network in China which will eventually link Beijing to various other cities, including Taipei. Yeah, right! Someone really used their brain on that one.
I doubt you need to beef up your brain at all. If you do, then I guess it depends what kind of journalism you’re going to do. If you want to be the political correspondent then read about politics, but not much point doing that if you’re going to be the restaurant correspondent.
Get a job at your community, college, or if you can, at your city newspaper or TV station–even if it is just running copy, making coffee, or ordering the take-out food a couple of hours a day.
Volunteer, if they won’t hire you. That’s a good way to start learning the craft and it will boost your chances of getting hired once you graduate. Also, you will know whether it is your “thang” before long.
Good Luck!
[quote=“Wookiee”]Get a job at your community, college, or if you can, at your city newspaper or TV station–even if it is just running copy, making coffee, or ordering the take-out food a couple of hours a day.
Volunteer, if they won’t hire you. That’s a good way to start learning the craft and it will boost your chances of getting hired once you graduate. Also, you will know whether it is your “thang” before long.
Good Luck![/quote]
Working for free for several months is called an internship. It seems like a very popular way to get hired by major newspapers/TV stations. Perhaps you could research for available internships.
You could also volunteer as a writer for a local alternative press rag. No (or very little) money but you’ll get experience. Those places are always looking (practically begging most of the time) for contributors.