A journalist is someone whose profession is journalism. It gathers, processes, discovers and disseminates news to a diverse audience. Journalists are always aware of important events and are seen at the event location, live or recorded, looking for news. You can work in a radio station, television, print and online media. To become a journalist, you must have zeal, interest, motivation, and determination to succeed in the field.

Studying courses like journalism, mass communication, or media studies earns you a college degree / certificate upon graduation. It also allows you to learn the theoretical and practical jobs that you find useful after graduation.

You can intern at any media station to find out more or get paid employment as a junior journalist with an entry position because you are a recent graduate with no experience. The next thing is to expose one to the field. You are linked to a senior journalist who will teach you how to conduct personal or personality interviews, write interview questions, report on events live from the event location, and write news in the in-house style of the station. Interviews can be a telephone interview or a physical interview. There are also observation sessions. This is when you watch what the senior journalist is doing and emulate it.

News writing is highly dependent on the type of event you are covering, be it political, economic, educational, or healthcare. 5W’s & ​​H is an important feature of any news story. This is what, where, when, where, why and how. Your opening / main paragraph is known to be the foundation / preamble that pushes your audience to listen, see more, or read more. Your opening paragraph should contain 2 or more 5Ws and H. Objectivity is the watchword of journalism, don’t take sides when writing your story.

You are the eye of your media at the event, so you are expected to write in details, be short and concise, names and pronunciation correctly spelled. Check all collected data with reliable sources. Your source can be a person who is a first-hand witness to an event. You must respect the rights of the source. If you do not want to be known, you must write anonymously. Their lives or work may be at risk when you mention the source’s name or work address.

Get Your Facts – Audio and Video Current Events, Identify Facts That Need Further Verification, As This Can Serve As A First For Such Story, Be Sure To Attribute All Information Collected. Make sure to omit information when in doubt that writing bad news and misinforming the audience. This is to avoid criticizing your media team with slander, libel or defamation.

No man is an island of knowledge. Once you’ve written your story, read it and reread it before submitting it to the editor / lead reporter for investigation. Final verification is important before shipping.

Being in the field as a journalist allows you to see the world from an eyewitness perspective, especially in war-torn areas. In cases like this, safety comes first.