June 2022 – Ghana Toghana

Why Pursue a Career in Journalism

A career in journalism requires rapid thinking, adventure, curiosity, and a belief in the power of the media. It is a fast-paced, competitive industry that sometimes require to work overtime. The fundamentals of the industry have not changed despite the fact that the career has seen several adjustments in response to the increase in online news consumption.

Advantages of a journalism career

1. You get to work while learning.

The career for the curious is journalism. You are compensated every day as you wake up to look into fresh issues or activities taking place in your neighborhood. As a journalist, you discover something new each day, which is what makes the job so fulfilling.

2. Your work is tough and interesting.

A journalist’s life can be both challenging and exhilarating. If you were a local news reporter, you would need to be present at all times. It is always an adrenaline rush to be working under deadlines to provide a terrific tale in an exciting setting.

3. You work with knowledgeable, enthusiastic people.

People that are intelligent, dedicated, and passionate about their profession frequently gravitate toward journalism. Journalism is a “passion career” because it demands similar talents and isn’t as lucrative as other communications occupations. Many people work in the sector because they love it since the benefits come from the intrinsic rewards of the career rather than from the money.

4. You experience a deep sense of accomplishment.

Journalists publish their work for the public, in contrast to most persons whose work is only acknowledged within an office setting. Even if the audience is tiny, journalists are able to influence a group of readers with their writing and research who are (hopefully) learning something new as a result of their work.

5. You can go on a trip.

Even though every media career is unique, several reporters—especially overseas correspondents—have the opportunity to travel while working. Even local city journalists travel frequently to rural areas as part of their jobs to gather exceptional stories or reports. It certainly beats spending 40 hours a week at a desk next to a computer.

There Used To Be More Proximity Between Football and Journalism

The president of the football league hardly calls anymore, and secret interviews with famous players are hardly possible. The relationship between fans and football news sites like hesgoal has changed. Even the relationship between footballers and reporters has changed too. Is that good or bad?

Whether everything used to be better, you don’t know, or you know, but it’s a matter of taste. The president of the football league hardly calls because times have changed. He no longer has a real office at the football club. He now pretends that the club is big enough and can gradually do without him.

The head of the football league doesn’t call you simply because he doesn’t need anything from you. But you as a reporter need something from him. This meant that you had to open a Word document, write something like “Hello Mr. President, could you please call back?”, send the paper with the sentence to the editorial printer, and then, as soon as printed, put it right next to it in the editorial fax machine, in which the President’s number was stored. You send the fax message and then hope for a response.

These days, which reporter still has a fax machine in the home office? Most reporters may not have that old-fashioned fax machine but for sure there’s a mobile phone. And if ever there’s a fax machine sitting around in the home office, it’s no longer used as it was in its glory days. Technology in journalism has changed and so has the way journalism and reporting are done.

ALSO READ: The Sports Industry in the Midst of the Pandemic

Huge Changes when looking for An Interview With A Professional Footclub

That has also changed. When you write about FC Bayern, sports reporters then used to do so even without the President’s permission. When you write about FC Bayern today, you must have contact with people whose title is not even known to you even in those good old days of reporting.

You talk to spin doctors and those who think they are, you call media advisors of players and then find out that the players have a second media consultant, who may also be just a buddy. We don’t know that exactly. If you do an official interview with a Bayern player, you sometimes get it back in three colors. The press department of the club then authorized it (let’s say: in red), the media advisor of the player made comments (green), and he sent it to the right player advisor for safety’s sake, who also noticed something (blue).

Some of these authorized interviews could also be sent to the editorial printer, but they would not be forwarded to Lake Tegernsee, but rather hung in a museum of modern art. Three-colored doodles, mysterious signs: Surely an art critic could be found who interprets something in there, the meaning of life or something.

Is this better or worse now than it used to be? So if you are a reporter with years and years of experience, you know that things have changed in the sports news industry. Has it gotten more complicated? You could say that because with all the people you will have to pass through before creating a good story, you will miss the good old days of typewriters and fax machines.