<p>I've been thinking more and more lately of getting into News-Editorial Journalism. As of now, UT is my slight reach/hopeful school. Texas A&M and Baylor are my safeties. When I started forming an idea of where I wanted to go though, I was still thinking of majoring in business or maybe law or something. Now that I'm starting to change my mind, I'm not sure which schools have the Journalism programs. </p>
<p>Also, is it true that getting a lucrative journalism gig is almost all about who you know? I'm pretty technically minded, and could swing a business major if I chose to go that route.</p>
<p>Simply put: Entry level journalism jobs are NOT lucrative. Period. Don't go into journalism expecting to make much money right out of college. In 99.9% of cases, that simply isn't going to happen.</p>
<p>Go into journalism because you love to write, love the challenge of hunting down the story, love the excitement of being the first to cover newsworthy events. Do it because you can't imagine yourself doing anything else, even though you could probably make a lot more money doing something else.</p>
<p>Do not go into journalism for the money, or because you think it will be "fun" or "glamourous". While it is possible to make a decent living in a career in journalism, very few get rich doing so. Any fun and glamour (and, to be honest, there's far less than most people imagine) go out the window very quickly if you aren't doing this because you have a deep seated need to be in journalism for the reasons above.</p>
<p>That said, several things influence your chances of having a journalism career: (1) solid writing and research skills (2) a portfolio of published work showing those skills (either from internships or student media) (3) determination and willingness to start at an entry level job doing grunt work for low wages</p>
<p>Contacts within the journalism industry can help a bit, but they won't help if you don't have the other three. The only contact that on its own would land you a "lucrative gig" right out of college without the first three is having Rupert Murdoch as your father.</p>