I’ve read all of these articles about how the industry is dying, there are few jobs available, too many candidates to fill them, and salaries are low. I’ve heard similar things about another field I’m interested in, advertising. Should I find something else? Advice, please!
Well, it’s true…there are few journalism jobs compared to the number there used to be and you won’t get rich as a journalist. I’m a journalism major; it’s my passion and I can’t imagine doing anything else. But if you aren’t prepared for a low salary and hard time finding work, then look elsewhere. And you can still be a journalist majoring in something else. Or double majoring, which is what I’m doing.
Marketing is quite good and public relations is OK (http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_table_102.htm).
I’m a journalist. I completely disagree with the doomsayers. In fact, I think there are MORE jobs in journalism in recent years—they are just a different kind of journalism job. What’s big? Data journalism. Graphics journalism. Anything digital.
You do not need to major in journalism. To get a job in journalism after graduation, you need to accomplish two things while you are in college: 1. Get clips. Lots of them. 2. Get at least one substantial summer internship. To get the internship, see #1. To get #1, go to college—any college—that has a DAILY student-run newspaper. The newspaper should be independent of the university, i.e., does not get funds as a student activity and is not part of a journalism class. Walk in to the newspaper office the first day you are on campus (there is always someone in there) and ask how to sign up. You will immediately get trained and get assignments.
I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to work on a DAILY student newspaper—not every other day, not weekly, not monthly.
Here are some recent lists of top student newspapers. Note that not all of these are daily, so you have to wade through them to find the dailies.
http://www.collegemediamatters.com/2015/08/03/best-college-newspapers-2015-ranking-released-by-princeton-review/
http://www.collegemediamatters.com/2014/08/05/best-college-newspapers-2014-ranking-released-by-princeton-review/
http://www.collegechoice.net/top-50-college-newspapers/
http://journalismdegree.org/exemplary-college-newspapers/
Thanks guys. @CE527M What double major do you suggest? @brantly By digital journalism, do you mean regarding subject matter, or medium?
Medium. You have to know how to create a “package.” Video, infographics, narrative, and sometimes even an interactive feature.
There are fewer paper venues but journalists are still needed to ensure we have access to information-key to democracy.
Yes. But there are more broadcast venues than ever. And digital.
What would you suggest to gain skills creating such “packages”? Would that come with working for the newspaper, would certain classes be necessary or what?
A common double-major combination includes journalism and political science (which is what I’m majoring in). History, English, and business are also common majors.
And whether you take journalism classes or work for a paper or station, you’ll learn how to put together packages. Practice is key, which is where experience and working comes into play. If you choose to major in journalism, without internships and experience working for the local and/or campus newspaper/station, you won’t be able to get a job, which is why you don’t have to major in journalism.
Thanks again both of you for your advice. Do you think working for a newspaper would be too much of a workload if I took a full class load and am on a sports.team as well?
Usually, imho, working on the student paper/website eats away at one’s GPA. Major time commitment. Like a full-time job. But, that’s what your competitors will be doing.
Anyone who reads Yahoo News realizes that there is a dire need for journalists, or at least editors, in that little sector of the world.
@Ryanium Any college paper worth its salt has a digital version. Work on it. You’ll put together packages. Major in whatever you want. Economics, history, English, classics, linguistics, political science, math, Russian–really anything is fine. If you become very involved with the daily paper, it is hard to juggle with your school work. But you have to find a way to do it. Serious student journalists hang out in the newspaper office all the time. They study there. They have their social life there. They eat there. They eat, sleep, and breathe the paper.
Good weekly papers are fine too. Do an internship in a state capital and in Washington, D.C. Also, in addition to breadth of knowledge, learn at least one subject (beat) deeply. Learn management and marketing too.
Seconding what everyone has said so far. Journalism grads tend to be great editors and writers. They know how to package stories and how to find information. Those skills are always in demand. And there are still jobs, just not as many at traditional daily newspapers.
You do need to gain a variety of skills. Specializing, whether it be in a topic area such as business or sports reporting or with technical skills – multimedia production or data journalism – can be extremely helpful. Audience engagement and social media is a booming area and is another skill set that can get you hired outside of traditional news outlets.
As mentioned above, clips (examples of your work – whether it be design, headlines, reporting or graphics) are vitally important.
It can still be a great major. I’m a working journalist who helps hire our interns. I also have a child who’s a HS senior who’s strongly considering it as her major, something I’d discourage if I actually thought there was no future!
Maybe fine, but not optimal. You never deal with breaking news and you don’t learn the rhythm of daily journalism. My top recommendation is always a daily paper. A wide variety of colleges have daily independent, student-run newspapers. I looked through to find some examples:
Cornell Daily Sun
Yale Daily News
Daily Collegian (Penn State)
The Cavalier Daily (University of Virginia)
The Daily Orange (Syracuse)
The Daily Athenaeum (West Virginia University)
The Daily Gamecock (Univ of South Carolina)
There are more . . .
How do you know if the paper is independent? Click into the “about” section on the paper’s website. If it is independent, it will proudly and loudly say so. Indeed, many independent papers say it right on the banner. Here’s some text from The Cavalier Daily:
An example of a student newspaper that is not independent is The Maroon (Loyola University In New Orleans). Here is some text about The Maroon from the university’s website: