So you want to be a journalist? Great, welcome aboard. Nice to have you with us. But I'd like to take this opportunity to give you some advice.
Some of this I've learned from personal experience. Some of it I've been fortunate to have been warned about – and thus far avoided having to learn it the hard way. My purpose here is not to scare you, but rather to prepare you. If you really want to do this then you'll read the below, shrug your shoulders, and dive right in.
Welcome to your adventure...
- Journalism is not Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 – Get used to this now. You will have to make sacrifices. Lots of them. The world works on its own schedule. Your job is document events that happen... and plenty happens after business hours and on weekends. You will miss that dinner party sometimes. You will have to cover an event or a story while your friends are at the beach. You chose this. Don't complain.
- You're not as good as you think you are – You may have a way with words. You might be great at poetry or fiction. But journalism is an entirely new craft. There is a formula – a way to do it, and you don't know it yet. This point is easily fixed by learning from an established journalist or as I have done, enrolling in an appropriate course of study. Even then however, you're going to have to practise, practise, and practise – like anything practice makes perfect (or in this case, better).
- You're not going to walk into your dream role – you may dream of interviewing movie stars on the red carpet or your favourite football players in the dressing sheds after a game. And maybe you will one day. Before that though you're going to have to "do your time" at the grassroots level. Be prepared to do a lot of local reporting about community events, residents opposing developments and other issues of this nature. And be grateful as hell to be given the opportunity to do so.
- You will work hard for little to no pay in the beginning – this follows on from the previous point. Local papers don't have a lot of money to pay you. But if you don't start somewhere you'll never get the experience. So you should be prepared to sacrifice a few comforts in the short term. I've cancelled my regular wine deliveries and am about to say sayonara to Foxtel. I've kept a second job that I dislike in order to stay afloat. And I'm about to flog off some unused belongings on eBay to pay for an overseas trip I had no business booking on my current income.
- Your sources don't work to your schedule – once you start researching and writing articles you will be dealing with sources. They are important to you. But you may not be all that important to them. Sources have their own lives and jobs, their own problems and their own schedules. Don't expect them to fit into your schedule. Organise interviews in plenty of time. Have backup sources ready in case your preferred source isn't able to coordinate with you. Always talk to more people than you need – better to have too many quotes than not enough.
- Forget your own opinion – when you are starting out as a reporter you don't have one. You may dream of being the next Annabel Crabb or Piers Akerman but until people know who you are they won't give a damn what you think. Your job right now is to 100% objectively report news. Take out your creative expression, your tone and your clever language. Keep it simple and to the events of the story. Never take sides. Read your articles over several times once you've written them to make sure that you're not.
- You will be edited: swallow your pride and get used to it – Your joy at seeing your first by-line may well be soured once you read what you wrote and find it's not exactly what you wrote after all. This is going to happen. It's up to the editors to decide how the articles that go into their papers read. If that means changing quotes to paraphrasing, rearranging your paragraphs or deleting some of your piece altogether, they're going to do it. Suck it up.
- Be prepared to be beaten to the punch: it will happen – the reality is that there are other journalists out there trying to make a name for themselves too. You do not have a monopoly on any story. Particularly if you are chasing a really hot story, you can bet there will be other journalists on the case. The best you can do is try and file first... and hopefully you will, but be prepared that sometimes you won't. All your hard work and you were beaten. Don't feel sorry for yourself. Move on to your next story.
- You can be sued – this is the fun bit (not). You are writing about people, groups and organisations. And people, groups and organisations can all sue. The best way to avoid this is to get a copy of the MEAA's code of conduct and follow it religiously. Check your facts. Make sure you have permission for every quote you use and document this permission. Don't defame anyone. Stay objective.
So... by now you're probably wondering what you've gotten yourself into. This is why I've covered all the "scary stuff" first. Here's something to keep you inspired. And that is... - You can make a difference – I've left the best for last. If you give this your all and do it right, you can truly make a difference. One of my university tutors told us a story about a news piece that covered a fatal car crash involving some teenagers. The reporter interviewed the father of one of the victims, and his words resulted in major changes being made to driving laws which have resulted in less teenage fatalities on our roads. I can't claim yet to have achieved such a feat, however my constant hounding of a pub owner whose establishment was ignoring a court judgement to meet with concerned residents led to him agreeing and attending said meeting.
So there you have it... now throw yourself into it, get out there and start making a difference!
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