So you’re interested in pursuing journalism and becoming a journalist but don’t know what the job actually involves?
This article will outline the basics of being a journalist through the eyes of a field professional, including what an ordinary day looks like, study pathways, career prospects and more.
Let’s dive in!
Meet Haydn
What is a Journalist?
Steps to Becoming a Journalist
Future Outlook
Best Thing & Worst Thing
Advice for Aspiring Journalists
Meet Haydn
Haydn Hickson is a freelance journalistwho is currently astaff writer at Junkee Media, one of Australia’s fastest growing media companies!
Haydn hasprofessional experience as a writer as well as an audio and visual creator,previously holding positions at Nova Entertainment’sGOAT Media, MTV, FBI Radio, News.com.au, and 2ser,as well as various USYD media publications and platforms.
How did you end up in this role?
Haydn says thatjournalism definitely just “fell into his lap” during lockdown when his presenting role was made redundant. However he always knew he wanted to work in media, and completed a degree in media and communications at university.
“I took my last job at Nova because I wanted to pursue presenting and I think I fell into a lot more writingonce lockdown started,” he said.
Studies and Experience
Haydn studied aBachelor of Arts/Advanced Studies (Media and Communications)at the University of Sydney with adouble degree in Marketing.
During his degree, he completed athree-month media internship with MTV as a Digital Media Intern, where his main job was to pitch and write news articles, catered to the millennial audience!
What made you want to work in this industry?
It’s rewarding to exercise a lot of his skills in his job, says Haydn, becausemedia is changing so rapidly and the role of journalists is increasingly multifaceted. These range from journalistic writing, to video and image-based meme creation, to podcasting and radio presenting!
What is a Journalist?
Journalistsresearch and compile news stories, andwrite and edit news reports, commentariesandfeature stories for presentation in print and electronic media.
而其他e have been many ‘kinds’ of journalists previously, including print, radio, and television journalists,a great number of journalists today take on several responsibilities across different media formsand mayswitch between television, radio, print and other mediums from job to job(e.g. writing an article and creating the image to accompany it).
Roles and Responsibilities
“The role of journalist in 2021 is very multiskilled,” says Haydn. “不再仅仅是在研究和写作and that’s it.”For example, it may also include knowing about relevant memes and being able to incorporate those into articles through Photoshop.
He also adds that for journaliststhere is “no such thing as nine-to-five day”due to the unpredictability of news, and priority to break a story as fast as possible: “you have to follow news as it comes and goes.”
Haydn’s typical day now begins withscrolling through his Twitter feed on his way to work and noting down important stories or pieces of information, particularly news developments from overnight. Between 9:00 and 9:30 at work, he says, hedevises what stories would be best for the news site, and at 9:30 pitches them in a team group meeting.
The day that follows generally consists ofresearching, writing, and editing, to using WordPress, embedding links, making any images to accompany the article, and creating a Facebook/other social media captionfor the story. Once a story is finished, it is sent to the editor to revise and upload. This generally happens2-3 times a day with different stories.
“At my last workplaceI was brought on as a content creator, making video skits that would go on the site, but I would also be asked to write a lot of news articlesand also pop on their daily podcast…. [now]I’m writing a lot of articles and making a lot of video memes, image-based memes and a bunch of other stuff,” he says.
Which industries can this career be found in?
Some of the primary industries that journalists can be found in include:
- Information Media and Telecommunications
- Arts and Recreational Services
- Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
- Public Administration and Safety
What jobs do people sometimes confuse this with?
Copywritersdesign and compose written material to advertise products and services, while journalists typically coverstoriesabout real-world events.
Newspaper or Periodical Editorsplan and direct editing of publications, in accordance with correct rules of grammar, style and layout. Although editors mayalsobe journalists elsewhere, the job of a journalist is primarily to research and cover real-life stories, which are revised by editors for publication.
Characteristics and Qualities
Characteristics that Haydn has developed over his career, and continues to work on, include:
- Writing with tone of voice:Every single time they write an article, journalists must retell information in a way that fits the company they work for.
- SEO (Search Engine Optimisation):Journalists must create an article title for Google that will best optimise what people are searching for to gain more clicks.
- Research:Ability to research effectively.
- Speed of writing articles:Pumping out several articles within a day.
- WordPress:The platform used to publish articles online.
- Photoshop:To create/edit images to support articles.
- Premiere Pro:For video editing.
According toJob Outlook, these are the essential skills and knowledge for journalists:
| Characteristics | Types Required |
|---|---|
| Knowledge | English language, communications and media, sociology and anthropology, history |
| Skills | Writing, speaking, critical thinking, reading comprehension, active listening |
| Abilities | Oral comprehension, oral expression, speech recognition, written expression, inductive reasoning |
| Activities | Communicating with the public, building good relationships, researching and investigating, planning and prioritising work, explaining things to people |
Steps to Becoming a Journalist
What should you study?
You usually need auniversity qualification in journalism, writing, communicationsor another related field to work as a Journalist.
While a degree in journalism or communications will teach you appropriate writing styles, ethics of journalism, and other technical skills and industry knowledge, Haydn says thatuniversity is most important for forming the social connections essential to finding internships and jobs.
Check out the different degrees you can study for Journalism:
How long does it take to become a Journalist?
Most journalism (or media and communications)degrees take 3-4 yearsto complete. Some will find themselves in a full time paid position in the industry directly after graduation.
However越来越多的记者必须undertake contracted and/or freelance work due to rising job scarcityin the industry, often working for several media companies simultaneously or for short periods of time.
Industry Knowledge
Knowledge ofWordPress(website builder) is important as a professional journalist, says Haydn, as well as variousphoto, video and audio editing softwares like Photoshop and Premiere Pro.Many of these can be learned on the job per-se, so don’t worry if your skills are less to none!
Of course this depends on one’s position, howeverjournalists’ knowledge requirements are growing increasingly multifacetedacross all positions.
What will this career look like in the future?
How in-demand is this career?
Journalism is projected to havestable future growth, however thenumber of people working as ‘Journalists and Other Writers’ (in their main job) fell over 5 years from 25,100 in 2014 to 19,700 in 2019, according toJobOutlook.
Are there opportunities to grow or specialise?
The “classic trajectory” of career growth for a journalist typically follows fromstaff writer, to editor, to senior editor of an umbrella of news sites.
In terms of specialisation, larger news companies with more traditional business models may have different journalists working on writing, video editing, image production, etc. Howevernewer or smaller news sites will typically ask for multi-skilled workers able to execute all or several of these activitiesin one position.
Salary
| Annual Salary | Future Growth | Skill Level Rating |
|---|---|---|
| $81,000+ | Stable over the next 5 years | Very high skill |
Influential Trends
Journalism is undergoing dramatic change as an industry today withthe explosion of digital platforms, making it an exciting if not unpredictable field.In fact,the role of journalists is possibly more important than ever, with social media and technology allowing nearly anyone to broadcast and ‘report’ events in real-time, heralding a so-called ‘post-truth’ society.
The Future of this Industry
More funding is the major determinant of the future of journalismand the media industry, says Haydn. He sayswe are either going to see it go into a pay wall(where readers must subscribe to a site to view content)or a lot of native articles(articles sponsored by something else).
Additionally,news companies are increasingly reliant on social media for their consumers.“I think the reliance on social media is the scariest part,” says Haydn, becausebig platforms like Facebook have control over the flow of traffic to news sites, where much of news firms’ income is acquired.
Best Thing & Worst Thing
What do you enjoy most about this job?
“Plus it’s fun.Everyday I get to make jokes for a living and turn my hobby of being obsessed with celebrity gossip into a job!”
What do you feel is the worst part of this job?
“I think the most stressful part of my job iswhen I have to write something I don’t know much about,” says Haydn.
“It could be quite stressful at times. Especiallyif you set your own sort of goal for yourself to pump something out quickly,” he adds.
“It’s a pretty hard industry to crack into.I have such a love for my job because I like what I do and who I do it with, but that’s a mesh you don’t always get.”
Advice for Aspiring Journalists
What do you wish you had known before you started working in this career?
Haydn wishes he’d known more abouthow important connections within his university cohort would be in his experience of getting jobs. The technical skills you learn at university, while useful, can usually be learnt or polished later on, butit’s essential you make friends and get involved with uni news publicationsbecause “the wider your initial network the stronger the chance of getting entry level jobs.”
Haydn says无论他们实习弹出is also key to this networking!
“Don’t be afraid to cold call or cold email,” he adds. “More often than not companies are looking for people and opportunities that they probably won’t specifically advertise for.”
“For example if you wanted to pitch to Pedestrian,I think you would have better luck actually going out, finding the email of the editor, and saying, ‘Hey would be you interested in this,’ rather than waiting for them to put a call out.”
What should people consider taking on this career?
It’s very important toclean up your “internet footprint”if you’re considering going into journalism, says Haydn.Certain opinions on the internet may “come back to haunt you”that may have seemed relevant to a particular moment in time.
Journalists today mustbuild public brands of opinion that people can follow on social media and in the news,no longer anonymous reporters behind big media firms. It’s also essential youstay very informed about current affairs, which eventually becomes a natural part of your job, says Haydn.
Job Flexibility
The industry varies in terms of job flexibility,says Haydn, and finding a place that suits you the best.
“Things just have to get done essentially…我看到真的繁忙的环境中你don’t leave until it [the job] gets done, and I’ve also seen more relaxed environments where whatever you get done in that period of time is good.I think it just depends on who you work for.”
Depending on your responsibilities, you could bebreaking up the day with a variety of different tasks(e.g. not just article writing, but also image/meme creating).
What is the workplace culture like?
The workplace culture of journalismcan be both fast paced and relaxed.Haydn says he’s worked at companies where collaboration is minimal between colleagues, where you ‘sit down’ and get the job done.
“The place I’m at now, I love it so much becausewe’re always consuming the content that’s put onto the internet and sending it into our group chat and talking about it.”
For example, Haydn says his colleagues will send their headlines to each other and discuss which one they’d be most likely to click on. “Where I am at the moment it’s a very positive environment,” Haydn concludes.
Zara Zadrois a Content Writer for Art of Smart and a current undergraduate student at the University of Sydney. She studies a Bachelor of Arts/Advanced Studies majoring in Media & Communications and English. In her free time, she enjoys reading, listening to music and discovering new parts of Sydney. She has also written for the student publications Honi Soit and Vertigo. After she graduates, Zara hopes to do a Masters in creative writing and live overseas, which she cannot wait for!
