Area of Communication?

JOURNALISM

Journalism is a career that falls under the Mass Communication area of

communication

Position Description

The position: Reporter

Duties: Reporters have to collect newsworthy, accurate, detailed information in order to produce stories for use in print media or for broadcast news.

Position Description (continued)

Reporters may stumble upon stories themselves or may be assigned to cover an event or story from their editor.

The job of the reporter is to interview individuals, and/or observe events objectively, and gather facts. After information has been collected, they use their notes and decide what angle to take on their story. Reporters must be ambitious and creative enough to generate unique content for the news organization they work for.

Position Description (continued)

There are two types of reporters. Broadcast reporters, and print reporters. Broadcast reporters appear on television and sometimes radio. They disseminate their stories through speech. For the purpose of this project we will focus on print reporters. Print reporters disseminate their stories through their written works often appearing in newspapers, or online news story content.

Position Description (continued)

Newspaper reporters often specialize in a particular beat. For example, a court reporter will specialize in stories dealing with local court, and criminal news.

Reporters for today’s newspapers may also take photographs, record video, and write for online blogs.

Required education • A high school diploma is a must (recommended courses are English,

computer skills, communication, history, and social studies).

• Most employers will require a Bachelor’s degree. While some editors prefer a degree in journalism, others are happy with a general liberal arts education. (Courses recommended are English, sociology, political science, economics, history, psychology, business, speech, and computer science. Knowledge of foreign languages is also useful).

• If you are planning to specialize in a particular beat you might consider majoring in that area (for example if you are going to specialize in finance you might major in economics or business).

• To remain extra competitive, a graduate degree in journalism could also help give you an edge in applying for jobs as a reporter in the mass communication field. However, experience over textbook education is often what is more valued in the journalism industry.

Required experience • Typically, experience with computers, writing, speech,

communicating, and typing is a must.

• The one thing editors largely evaluate is the applicants portfolio. This portfolio will include “clips” of different stories you’ve written, events you’ve covered, and etc. For this reason, it’s important if you’re interested in journalism to get involved in some internships, or with your college and/or high school newspaper/news team, in order to build up a decent portfolio by the time you graduate and begin job applying.

Required Skills Today’s reporter must possess the following skills to be competitive in

the job market

• Active listening – Giving full attention to the people speaking in interviews

• Speaking – Talking to others to convey information and ask questions

• Writing – Used to form stories for the public

• Reading Comprehension – Used when researching facts

• Critical Thinking – Using logic and reasoning to identify solutions

• Time Management – Managing one’s own time and the time of other’s effectively

• Customer and personal service - meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction

• Computers and electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Detailed Work Activity • collect details for stories or articles

• compile information through interviews • convey moods or emotions through writing

• edit video & written material • identify interests of publication readers

• interpret information to formulate story ideas • make presentations • operate cameras

• organize journalistic or literary data • research information for news programs

• schedule work to meet deadlines • use journalistic interviewing techniques

• use public speaking techniques • use word processing or desktop publishing software

• verify investigative information • write headlines

• write news analysis commentary, column, or script • write news stories for publication

The interview

I interviewed the editor-in-chief of a local newspaper on Monday, March 4, 2013. His name is

Marc Charisse, and he has had 25+ years news experience, and has been an editor for 10 of those years. He has a Ph.D in First Amendment law and history, and has taught communication law and

constitutional law at the University of Washington and Jacksonville University

Question: What is your favorite thing about a career in journalism? Answer: Every day is different. It’s not a typical 9-5 job where you come in, you get your work done and you go home. There’s always excitement, and something new going on, and a new event or story to cover. Question: What is the biggest challenge of a career in journalism? Answer: Well right now I think the biggest challenge is that journalism itself is changing so much. Everything is going digital and journalism itself is just entirely different than it used to be. We now have to be ten times even faster than we used to be in order to get stories up online, and we have to figure out how to approach what the best way is to distribute our content. Question: What’s the most rewarding thing about having a career in journalism? Answer: Well I believe every single person has a story to tell, and I love the fact that we get to give everyone in the community a chance to tell their own story. The smile on people’s faces when they see their own name or their own picture in print is great. It’s so great to help people have their voices heard. Question: What’s something you would recommend to someone who wants to pursue a career in journalism? Answer: I think a common misconception for people is that to get a good career in journalism you HAVE to major in journalism and that’s simply not true. Get the most out of your education. Study something you love. One of my best reporters here majored in political science. If you study something you’re interested in, you’re more likely to actually enjoy school (laughing), hopefully, and get the most out of your education.

Question: How important is communication in journalism? Answer: Journalism basically is communication. You have to communicate with interview subjects. You need to have the skills and charisma to make them feel comfortable and open up to you, or else you’re not going to get the little facts and bits of information you need to make a story interesting. You need to communicate with other reporters out on the field. You need to communicate with the public by writing a story that will resonate with your audience. It is definitely a highly stressed skill in this industry. Question: How would you describe the ideal journalist? Answer: The ideal journalist is someone who checks their facts and checks them again. They’re someone who has the creativity of mind to find out-of-the-box, interesting interview subjects. They’re someone who’s never fully satisfied with their writing. They’re their own biggest critic, and will do whatever it takes to get the correct information. Question: You mentioned earlier how journalism is a changing industry, does that change the necessary background a person should have who is interested in a journalism career? Answer: I think it does. With online news today I’m constantly asking my reporters to sometimes take their own video, shoot their own photos, and sometimes I’ll ask them to post stories up on the internet or their blogs themselves which means they’re sometimes their own editor. So I think today it’s an even more highly competitive industry in that you do need to have more skills or at least be willing to learn more skills than you used to need in this field.

Being a reporter definitely requires strong communication skills. You should also have

computer, listening, verbal, and writing skills. It’s a flexible career in that you don’t have to major in

journalism, but you do need to have a college background with a liberal arts core. It requires you

to be flexible, practice active listening and good speaking skills. It’s an industry that is currently undergoing dramatic change, but a rewarding industry in which you get to give people in the

community a unique voice with which to tell their own story. Being a reporter is essentially acting as a community communicator, and thus you must make

sure your facts are correct, and you’ve done your research.

References

"Reporters." Ferguson's Career Guidance Center. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 5 Mar

2013.

“Reporters and Correspondents.” CareerOneStop. American Job Center Network.

Web. 5 Mar 2013.

“Reporter.” Bureau of Labor Statistics. United States Department of Labor. 19 Mar

2010. Web. 5 Mar 2013.