I have been a journalist for almost five years now. I caught the bug in high school (thanks to a wonderful journalism teacher, (love you Mr. P!) My mom was telling me the other day that she didn’t think I would continue with journalism, because the class stressed me out in high school so much. I think my problem with the class was not the journalism, but the people who didn’t care about the class and just wanted an easy A. Now that I’m in college, I am surrounded by people who are just as passionate about journalism as I am. So that’s why I’m in it. I love it. But there are still some things that I hate about it.
5. Being told my field is uncertain
Spring semester of my freshman year I went to a speaker from NPR who said at the end of her lecture that there were almost no jobs for journalists. The president of Drake was to quick to butt in with, “the journalism school has a 99 percent accomplishment rate.” This may be true, but it does not hide the fact that the journalism field is changing. While none of my friends or family has outright told me getting a job will be impossible, I see that uncertainty all around me in the world. Journalism is changing so much that almost anybody can publish something online and call himself or herself a reporter or writer. Journalists are losing jobs as the field changes. More and more publications are hiring freelance writers. While this may be a bit concerning, I feel confident that after graduation I will get a job somewhere, doing something related to my field. I’m just not quite sure what it will look like.
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4. Getting sucked into stories
When I joined my college newspaper, I was very excited to be starting something that would get me surrounded by people who cared about journalism as much I as I did. I was excited to be led by editors who were confident, passionate, and overall just on top of things. But then I got the dreaded email. It started happening my second semester at Drake. My editor emailed me, saying, “hey, I know you haven’t signed up for an article this week, but I was really thinking of you when I came up with this story idea.” The first time I got that email, I was utterly flattered. You thought of me while thinking of a story? You handpicked this story for me? I had written similar stories in the past, so it didn’t seem abnormal that my editor would seek me out for this story. But then, as time went on and I got more of these emails, I realized what was happening. My school’s newspaper does not have many writers. I am one of the more reliable ones, and my editor learned this. She knows I can be talked into a story, and that I will help out. I feel guilty when she comes to me asking for me to write a story, but sometimes I have to say no. I do get paid for the stories I write though, that often helps when I find myself writing a story I either don’t have time for or am not interested in.
3. Coming up with questions
Part of journalism is doing research before you talk to people. I have to figure out who I’m going to interview, and what I’m going to ask them. Coming up with questions can be very hard, especially for someone like me who does very similar stories every week. I find myself writing the same questions down week after week, and it can be frustrating. I try to spice it up, but I have learned that most of the time the old fashioned stuff is just what works. Sometimes I’ll think of a really good question, and be really proud of myself, but then come interview time and the person gives me a really boring answer, something I wasn’t expecting and probably won’t be able to use unless I’m really desperate for quotes. Quotes are supposed to be exciting and attention grabbing, but sometime you get interviewees who just aren’t that. I have had many a time when I have had to scratch entire interviews and go back to square one of research because an interview didn’t go well. Sometimes, it all starts with the questions.
2. Working around other people
As a reporter, I often have to go out and contact people for interviews. People are often great about this and are very willing to help out. One thing that most people don’t understand though is the concept of deadlines. As a journalist, deadlines control my life. I have to get articles in on time, or else I have my editor breathing down my neck. When I contact you for an interview, please try to understand my deadline. Don’t say, “oh I would love to, can we do it next week?” No. My article is due in five days. As a school newspaper, we come out once a week. I do not have the luxury of being able to work on a story for two or three weeks. The best type of people are the people who understand this, and ask me, “when’s your deadline?” As a journalist I try to be polite and work around other people’s schedules, but it’s nice when they consider mine as well. Thank you, you wonderful people; you help me have fewer headaches.
1. Transcribing
I hate, hate, hate transcribing, even though I have to do it multiple times every time I write an article. For those who don’t know, transcribing is when you type out every word of an interview. One of my professors once called it one of the most time sucking activities ever, and I couldn’t agree with her more. I record all my interviews, so when it’s time to actually write the article I sit with my earbuds in for quite sometime, making sure I get every single word before I actually start writing the article. I have to pause the recordings every couple of seconds to write a phrase or sentence down, and it takes up a lot of time. I will admit it – I often procrastinate transcribing because I hate it so much. It can be a waste of time, but I also know it’s important because a journalist does not want to risk misquoting someone. That can lead to some major trouble, and I would rather deal with the pain of transcribing than getting sued.
