05-29-2015, 01:16 AM
OK, I'm guessing you want a more developed answer. There are several journalists and former journalists on this board. In fact, several are charter members. I'm sure they'd be happy to pitch in with their opinions.
The skill of being able to research information, gather facts and interview people are valuable no matter what you end up doing. So practicing journalism isn't a bad idea. Hanging your career hat on it is. News is a dying business, and newspapers are dying daily. There were 8 newspapers in the Bay Area in the early 1990s. (The San Francisco Chronicle, the San Francisco Examiner, the Oakland Tribune, the Alameda News Group, the Lesher Group, the Marin Independent Journal, the Palo Alto Times Tribune, and the San Jose Mercury News. Now, through closures and consolidations, there are three, with the I-J barely hanging on. Even trade publications have fallen by the wayside, and Internet sites have similarly consolidated or closed.
Nevertheless, if you really insist on becoming a journalist, the best way to learn it is by doing it. Take a couple of courses in it and work for your school radio or newspaper, but major in something you enjoy that's not journalism. Work Learn how to ask questions and tell a story.
The skill of being able to research information, gather facts and interview people are valuable no matter what you end up doing. So practicing journalism isn't a bad idea. Hanging your career hat on it is. News is a dying business, and newspapers are dying daily. There were 8 newspapers in the Bay Area in the early 1990s. (The San Francisco Chronicle, the San Francisco Examiner, the Oakland Tribune, the Alameda News Group, the Lesher Group, the Marin Independent Journal, the Palo Alto Times Tribune, and the San Jose Mercury News. Now, through closures and consolidations, there are three, with the I-J barely hanging on. Even trade publications have fallen by the wayside, and Internet sites have similarly consolidated or closed.
Nevertheless, if you really insist on becoming a journalist, the best way to learn it is by doing it. Take a couple of courses in it and work for your school radio or newspaper, but major in something you enjoy that's not journalism. Work Learn how to ask questions and tell a story.