Skip to main content

Things You Should Keep In Mind Before Choosing A Journalism School


Here’s a cautionary tale for you if you’re here to choose mass communication colleges. If you wish to pursue a journalism career because you think it is a glamorous job, you might want to stop right there. The columnists you are eager to read all week. Anchors you admire, the bylines that amaze you and the reporters who you believe have an exclusive reach to a lot of superstars and celebs, have quite a handful difficult, tiring, at times threatening behind the scene tasks.
We often only see the glittery parts of any profession and go for it, often neglecting the harsh facts. The purpose of giving out this information is to reduce the positivity bias in you while you choose a career in mass media communication colleges.
So, these journalists and news reporters could be chasing a story for weeks, straining to get a lead or source to talk to them. There is a lot of pressure in most of the professions and mass communication and journalism is not any different. Your job would not be a desk job entirely. For meeting multiple deadlines, you will have to stay on your toes all the time.
In a nutshell, it is not a walk in the park. That being said, if you are really passionate about your chosen journalism career and have a relatively profound purpose to it then you are going to enjoy every bit of it.
If you, after having read all the above-mentioned things still wish to opt for a J-school, here are some things that you need to see through first.

Specialization

Before beginning your degree you should have an idea beforehand of what area of journalism you are keen on entering. It only makes sense then to make sure that the program offers those tracks or even provides concentrations in your desired area, whether it’s investigative reporting, magazine writing, photojournalism, online media or whether it’s sports and humanities.
It is also very necessary to select a program that will expose you to a variety of journalism media and genres, allowing you to beget holistic education and possibly discover your niche.
It might so happen that you’d want to do a double major or minor in another subject to further reflect your interests and goals, to name a few: Criminology, International Studies, Political Science, Multimedia, Business Administration, Public Relations.
Internships
Getting an internship done with a broadcast station, newspaper, magazine online publication or any other journalism is extremely valuable. Choose a J-school that gives more emphasis on prospective J-School puts on internships. You will want to find out whether they help students land internships and where.
Faculties and Administration
This is very important. Figure out about your desired school’s professors and instructors. Ideally, the faculty should consist of experienced journalists. They should have actually worked in the field and possibly still do. There is a lot to learn from the experiences as they teach you the basics and advanced skills, mentor you and give you pointers on how to network, land internships and jobs in the real world of journalism.
On-Campus Opportunities
In addition to gaining relevant experience and exposure at an internship, it is important for you to build your portfolio right on campus. If you are keen on writing stories for traditional or online publications, find out if your desired journalism school has its own newspaper or magazine (print or online). You could also go for TV Station or Radio Station if you’re leaning towards broadcasting, Radio Journalism courses, radio jockey courses or TV anchoring.

RJ Training Workshop Season 6

Get the detailed information about the workshop from here: https://www.facebook.com/events/422955741464777/


Talk to Primary Sources
Interaction with the current students, instructors and alumni, of the J-school(s) you are researching is very important. They can provide you with insights that delve deeper than the information put on the university’s website or brochure.
In the end, you shall only select a program that supports your innate interests and journalism career goals you should also keep in mind that your aspirations can evolve and change as you learn more about the field during the journalism studies you just have to decide one thing and stick to it.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How Studio Lighting for Photography Helps

The quality of light, how it falls on your subject and the effect it produces are all determined by lighting. If you're not paying attention to this, you could be seriously missing out on the opportunity to create stunning images worthy of a magazine cover. Introduction to Photography Lighting Lighting is one of the most important, but least understood, concepts in photography. We'll demystify lighting and show you how to use it to create stunning photos. So whether you're just getting started in photography, or you've been shooting for years, this guide on lighting is sure to help you take your photos to the next level. 3 Types of Lighting in Photography The main and most significant topic to comprehend in the realm of photography is the type of lighting. It can have a big impact on the overall look and feel of your photos. 1. Natural Light The light that comes from the sun or from other sources like fireplaces and lamps is called natural light ....

Writing Techniques for Television and Radio News

The news written for television and radio is referred to as broadcast news. The reason is that the news gets broadcast. Unlike print media where consumers have a chance to read and digest news at their own pace, television and radio news get broadcast with industry standards. That is why writing a television or radio news story is different from print news writing. The students that learn journalism from a renowned mass communication college in Ahmedabad learn effective news writing techniques from experts. In this blog post, we will share some of the top tips for writing an effective television or radio news story. Write For The Ear The first thing that mass communication college in Ahmedabad focuses on while teaching broadcast news writing is to understand the true meaning of writing for ears. The television and radio news story broadcast will not give chance to read a sentence again or find the meaning of some words that are difficult to understand. Even in the te...

Traditional Media vs. Social Media Similarities and Differences

  Traditional media and social media are not new terms for us. However, the question is: Do you really know the difference between both of these types of media? Well, some of you would say yes, why not! Traditional media means newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, etc. On the other hand, social media means social networking sites like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc. However, the fact is different. The real meaning of social media can be understood only if you divide the word into two words: Social  implies people socializing with each other (professionally or personally) Media  implies a platform(s) on or using which people socialize. It means traditional media and modern media aka social networking sites, both can be considered as social media to some extent. However, each type of traditional media is not social media. To clear the confusion, we are articulating this blog on the topic of  traditional media vs. social media . Social media sites can be referred to as ...