There are various colleges and Universities that offer courses in Mass Communication and Journalism. They are at the Under Graduate and Post Graduate level. You can also pursue a course in the same by means of Distance Education. The duration of the courses vary from one year to two years. In some Universities internship is part of curriculum.

Job Profile

As a journalist you will need to be well versed collecting and broadcasting the news via writing, speech and/or visuals. Research will be an important factor if you have an eye for detail. Writing, editing, proof-reading, photography, layout, and production – all these factors contribute to making of a story. A lack in either one of them can make or break your story. The hierarchy in a typical media set up is as follows-

• Reporting
• Specialist/Correspondent Reporting
• News/Features Editing
• Sub-Editing
• Freelance Writing
• Columns
• Editorials & Editor's Duties

Reporting

This job is probably the most interesting of all. As a reporter you will need to cover events that takes place at the local, state, national or international level. As a reporter you will need to present an unbiased account of the event. You will need to know what a “newsworthy” story is.

Specialist / Correspondent Reporting

A specialist reporter covers and writes on specific areas or topics. They analyse the changing trends in their chosen field, the outside influences etc.
Correspondent reporters are those who have been stationed to other cities by their newspaper. Correspondents represent the newspapers they work for. They give first-hand reports on the events taking place in these major cities.

News / Features Editing

Editing is the job of an experienced journalist. They allocate assignments, control work of the reporting staff, attend editorial conferences, and they handle the overall scripting rather than research on the topic.

Sub-Editing

A sub-editor (sub-ed, in the language of a journalist) has a say over all the articles. They are in charge of grammatical errors, editing, changing, omitting and at times rewriting the works of a reporter. They also make the headlines and sub headings of articles written by reporters. They also assist in the layout of the pages of newspapers.

Freelance Writing

Freelance journalists are those who are not committed to a particular newspaper/magazine. They are paid on each article they write. Freelance journalists can choose to write on topics that are of interest to them. The supplements in newspapers focus on a lot of areas, and there is scope to freelance with reputed newspapers. Feature writing is an area specialised by journalists. This style of writing is more detailed than a news report. It can be subjective and more of the ‘common person's view' than a situation or event.

Columns

Well-known and experienced journalists write columns. They write on a regular basis and on topics they are specialists in. You will find columns in newspapers and magazines as well. Columns can be written on a specific topic or they can also be answers to queries asked by readers. Writers from other publications also write columns.

Editorials

The editors or a special correspondent of the newspaper or magazines write editorials. This job is taken on by the editor, an experienced journalist or special correspondent and is essentially a detailed, subjective, full-length views of the writer on any current topic or concern.

Editor's Duties

The editor, as the head of the news world has to take an overall charge of what type of content goes into each and every issue. They need to know the pulse of the people. Topics that are bound to interest the readers and appeal to them are what they concentrate on. They also assign duties to the journalists. They are also actively involved in the interviewing and hiring of writers, planning budgets, and the designing and promotional activities for the newspaper.

Other Professions in Media

• Cartoonist / Sketching / Images

A picture speaks a thousand words.” A newspaper is certainly incomplete without visuals. A cartoonist works on the illustrations, cartoons, caricatures etc. because they help in enhancing the reader's understanding of the articles or current events.

• Photojournalist

A photojournalist is a person who tells a story using the pictures they have captured. Pictures can be used either to support an article, news feature or interview or a full-length feature can be carried, using just pictures. A photojournalist has a very prominent and a demanding career in magazines.

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