1. If you’re a curious person and you like asking questions. They say curiosity killed the cat, but it also made many a fine journalist. If you are a naturally curious person who might be intrigued about the ins and outs of a local knitting circle one day and equally about the history of Belgian monks beer production the next then perhaps journalism is the career for you. One thing that is normally guaranteed for journalists is that no two days are actually the same.
2. Be your own boss – few careers lend themselves as easily to self-employment as journalism. Former reporters and newspaper journalists often migrate over to the freelance world where they can control their own time, rates and content. If you dream of being your boss and managing your own projects perhaps journalism might be for you.
3. Journalism plays an important and essential role in society. Journalism keeps citizens informed and engaged in decisions that impact on their life and the society they live in. Journalism provides a means for critique, discussion, debate and holds those in positions of power accountable. Journalism also entertains, provokes thought and reflection, inspires emotion, provides humour and entertainment. Like most careers there is a wide spectrum of opportunities within the field of journalism, but studying it gives you a well rounded and overall feel for many different areas of journalism and what might be the best fit for you. Griffith college gives you the chance to specialise in certain areas in addition to journalism whether that’s broadcast media, PR, radio journalism etc. you will have an array of options to choose and learn from.
4. It lends itself to many career paths. The skills you gain from journalism are invaluable to many other areas, journalism means you have to be extremely disciplined with your time, detail oriented and manage well under pressure. It also means your writing skills need to be razor sharp as well as your people skills, if you study broadcast journalism it also means your presentation and public speaking skills are polished and professional, skills that are valuable to many business areas.
5. Meet people you would otherwise never come across and go to new places. A career as a journalist will expose you more often than not to interesting people and places. If a repetitive job in a cubicle is what you fear perhaps journalism could be the path for you.
And if you’re still not convinced…. watch a day in my life as a journalism student at Griffith college below.
