Today every Tom, Dick and Harry claims to be a Journalist as we are all writers and publishers of all the information we come across in our everyday living. Those whom had always had the passion to study Journalism may be discouraged because they may believe that they do not need to study Journalism to be a journalist but truth be told it isn’t that simple.
In order to be a good, recommended and recognised Journalist it takes more then just a click of the mouse and you are the best in town. Being a journalist that knows their work takes passion for what you do, training on proper writing, workshops one after the other and a lot of practice.
Don’t be fooled. Having your own blogs, cites and web pages does not guarantee you a position in the books that describe a journalist. Tweet as such, post photos on flicker, write blogs and facebook as much as you want, but the question still stands, do you have what it takes to be given the title of a real Journo?
Those that sit in the Journalism/ Media Studies class and listen to those long lectures, do not quit because the end result is worth it. Survive the messes and mistakes you make in the studio, endure the long and hard search for the accurate, subjective information you have to have for your reports. Nobody said it would be easy but that day will come when you walk up that stage and receive the “cap of knowledge”, enter the interview room and tell them the four Ws and H, and recite the new values, and then wait for the day you get into that news room with pride because you know your business.
The day will come when I will stand-up and say, we may all be writers and publishers but I am a Journalist.
It can be you that changes Zimbabwe, that stands up to the President and the one who makes the world a better place because you’ve got what it takes to be a real Journalist.
When times come when you feel like quitting remember that the title is about to be yours you are earning it or it is yours because you have earned it.
3 comments:
So Nadi, you believe that citizen journalism is not real journalism? Half the time, the citizen (meaning normal person) is the first person at the scene of the story and how many times has the citizen captured many important stories before the real journalist arrives? Take for instance the JFK shooting. A normal civilian got the whole thing on camera, way before CNN and all those news agencies arrived or even knew what had happened.
Yes, study journalism, it empowers you, but how many times have you used what they tell you in class in the real world? They say that we must be objective, but give me one journalist who is objective. The stories that we pitch during the diary conferences are not just issues, it is issues that affect the humane person inside of us, which in turn makes it more appealing for the journalist to write that story.
I take it you watch 3rd Degree- (if you don't I wouldn't blame you, Deborah Patta always has this moral high ground about her that is irritating.) How many times have you seen her follow leads that were captured by the normal citizen? How many times has she been outspoken about an issue because she feels strongly about it? How many times has she said "We don't want to be lied to by the government"? It's just the little hings that sometimes make me question what I learnt in class about jounalism,because I see that more experienced journos do not practice these things themselves.
I did however enjoy your piece. I've never felt so emotional over a piece of writing, lol. Good one.
I still stand that citizen journalsim is here to stay and I am so for it!
Buhle.
I have nothing against citizen journalism, but the problem is that, how many of these journalists say give accurate information? if its not how bad the world seems is how men are from mars, bladdy yaddy ya. I believe there are people who are given the talent to write and are better than most journalists out there. but how many?
The things we learn at school may work as guiding tools to the way in which you write and the way you organise your work as a beginner journalist.
dadorah patta on the other hand is a case on her own dont even want to start. Either way i like the way she interogates.
Anyway thank you for taking your time to read and comment on this post it meant a lot.
The thing is that, people out there are slowly losing the interest so just to give them the boost i wrote this post.
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