Essay On Journalism As A Career.There are in every generations, people whose chief pleasure. from as soon as they are able to write, is to express their ideas in words. Boys and girls take out exercise books from their pockets and inscribe stories, plays or poems in the style which, at that stage of their development, most appeals to them. Later, their chief ambition is to see the works of their pen in print, either in the school magazine or in the local paper. It is these people who look forward with delight to journalism as a career.
Those who aspire to power could hardly find any profession which would give their ambition more scope. Even the most influential of statesmen is dependent on the support of the electorate. and if he is not returned to power by his constituents. he can do nothing. But a journalist can continue to sway men's opinions by the power of the printed word for as long as he can get a publisher or a newspaper editor to print what he writes.
Then again, journalism has an infinite number of facets: you can write on anything from philosophy to prize fighting, from nuclear physics to nudism. There is always somebody who will be interested if you have something original to say and can say it in persuasive terms.
The greatest difficulty in the career of journalism lies in what is known as "getting a foot in." There are so many people who think they have a flair for writing, and so few editors who agree that their flair is worth cultivating. Some young people concentrate on the news side of journalism. They keep their eyes and ears open for anything that is likely to find a place in the news of the day. and take care to be the first to inform the local newspaper.
They learn to develop a sixth sense which leads them to the scene of motor- accidents or fires. or the return of longs lost heirs or the probable marriage film starts. They cultivate a highly coloured vocabulary. and learn to know the set phrases by which the sensation seeking public expects to be informed. Soon, they can turn out accounts of. flower shows, prize giving, weddings and court cases as swiftly as if they were turning the handle of a mincing machine. But • suchglibness though possibly gratifying at first, does not lead very far. and its possessor finds himself doomed to permanent anonymity as "Our reporter-. No true journalist would be content with this.
The second method of entry is far more difficult, and very few aspirants finally reach success. It consists in careful and exhaustive study of the subject in which the would be journalist is most interested, and very stern training in writing. This study involves years of hard work, often at a university,, and then the student attempts to join the staff of a newspaper of good standing where his expert knowledge will be appreciated.
This path into the world of writers is naturally comparatively untrodden, for only the best succeed in finding any place at all. But for those who do there are great possibilities. Many of the most influential men in the world today have begun their careers in this way, and they can claim with the poets and music makers:
"We are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems."
Those who aspire to power could hardly find any profession which would give their ambition more scope. Even the most influential of statesmen is dependent on the support of the electorate. and if he is not returned to power by his constituents. he can do nothing. But a journalist can continue to sway men's opinions by the power of the printed word for as long as he can get a publisher or a newspaper editor to print what he writes.
Then again, journalism has an infinite number of facets: you can write on anything from philosophy to prize fighting, from nuclear physics to nudism. There is always somebody who will be interested if you have something original to say and can say it in persuasive terms.
The greatest difficulty in the career of journalism lies in what is known as "getting a foot in." There are so many people who think they have a flair for writing, and so few editors who agree that their flair is worth cultivating. Some young people concentrate on the news side of journalism. They keep their eyes and ears open for anything that is likely to find a place in the news of the day. and take care to be the first to inform the local newspaper.
They learn to develop a sixth sense which leads them to the scene of motor- accidents or fires. or the return of longs lost heirs or the probable marriage film starts. They cultivate a highly coloured vocabulary. and learn to know the set phrases by which the sensation seeking public expects to be informed. Soon, they can turn out accounts of. flower shows, prize giving, weddings and court cases as swiftly as if they were turning the handle of a mincing machine. But • suchglibness though possibly gratifying at first, does not lead very far. and its possessor finds himself doomed to permanent anonymity as "Our reporter-. No true journalist would be content with this.
The second method of entry is far more difficult, and very few aspirants finally reach success. It consists in careful and exhaustive study of the subject in which the would be journalist is most interested, and very stern training in writing. This study involves years of hard work, often at a university,, and then the student attempts to join the staff of a newspaper of good standing where his expert knowledge will be appreciated.
This path into the world of writers is naturally comparatively untrodden, for only the best succeed in finding any place at all. But for those who do there are great possibilities. Many of the most influential men in the world today have begun their careers in this way, and they can claim with the poets and music makers:
"We are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems."
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