Jude Magnotti ’26
EE Co-Managing Editor
As any aspiring writer may know, the world of journalism can be a harsh, cruel, and cutthroat industry in which you have to fight as if your life depended on it in order to survive…Okay maybe it’s not quite that serious, but it is still not far off from the truth.
While it may appear seemingly easy at first, a career in journalism certainly does not come without its challenges. If you’re a writer here at Eagles Eye, then you probably did not have to do much to get in. Write an article or two, attend a few meetings, and you get to say that you were a part of a legitimate Newspaper publication!
Well, once you enter the real world, things will never come this easy to you again. Journalism (and the field of broadcasting and communications in general) is a highly competitive field professionally, and oftentimes even the best writers can not land consistent jobs against hundreds or even thousands of other people with the same aspirations as them.
Nevertheless, as with any industry, you should not let the competitive nature of such a field discourage you from pursuing a career in it if you are so inclined to. After all, what is the point of life if you don’t go after what you want? With that in mind, here are just a few of the many appeals that a career in journalism can have to a young writer:
1: Expressing Your Voice
More than almost any other profession, journalism (and broadcasting in general) allows you to express your voice and opinions to often times a much larger audience than you would get ranting about the news at a family gathering. Having their voice heard is a key motivation for many people, and if getting your thoughts and opinions out there is a top priority for you, then there are few better outlets to do that than through journalism. Having this kind of platform not only ensures that you are heard, but that your opinions or writing is viewed as credible and trustworthy to the people reading it as well. You want to make a change? It all starts with writing.
2: Impact
Adding on to your writing being perceived as credible (well depending on the publication), journalism plays a vital role in influencing the social-economical state of the world. It informs citizens, holds people in power accountable, and is relied on by people across the globe in order to be informed and kept up to date with the most recent happenings. Journalism is also an outlet where contrarianism and outspokenness blossoms. Whereas your “hot takes” would have been pushed aside or diminished before, they are now out there for everyone to see whether they agree with them or not. In fact, some journalists make their entire living of being contrarians and sparking controversy within the world. Not that you should be encouraged to do this, but a properly placed opinion can spark not only controversy, but it can cause a total analysis on a subject that many once thought to be an open book
3: Research And Learning
If you have ever written an article before, you would know that the process of it is not the writing itself, but the research involved with knowing enough about a topic in order to talk about it for a living. Even with an article such as this, I spent almost an hour just researching and learning as much as I could about journalism on top of what I already knew. As a distributor of news, you are only responsible for your readers’ education, but yours as well. Constantly researching and learning new information not only keeps your mind sharp, but it teaches you so much more that you didn’t know about the world, allowing you to form even more complex perspectives to write about. Needless to say, journalists tend to be some of the most well-informed people in the world. As heavy a burden it is to keep up with every single little thing that goes on, somebody has got to do it if we are to keep the masses up to date and informed with everything that goes on in our crazy universe.
4: Moral Satisfaction
While not always viewed as such, the world of journalism tends to be a relatively high honor business where ethics and integrity are encouraged and enforced. For those of you who pride yourselves in being morally strong or self righteous, work a journalist can be a great way to find a career while not having to compromise your values or yourself in order to succeed. With that being said, with as much power as journalism lends to the writer, some journalists choose to make their living through “yellow journalism”. Yellow journalism is essentially the spread of lies or half truths in order to generate controversy or emotion within the reader. While some to descend into this darker path, it is those who are able to report the truth and maintain their integrity that truly succeed within the business.
5: Creativity
Arguably the most important aspect of a career for an inspiring writer is the ability to actively generate self-expression and creativity within their work. Many writers tend to be deep and thoughtful people, so expressing themselves through the art of journalism can be an excellent way to channel those traits while maintaining creative freedom. Whether it is through editorials, news reporting, or collaboration, many people often find themselves lost in the emotionally deep and complex world of writing an article. As someone who needs an outlet to be creative as well, I can say from experience that writing articles here has allowed me to express myself in ways I never thought possible. Ask any writer here at Eagles Eye and they’ll tell you the same thing
While I may have been able to list some of potential avenues that journalism can take you on, you still do have to temper your expectations with reality. As I previously stated, while journalism is not a man-eat-man world, it is still one of the most competitive industries in not just America, but the world. If you are planning on just waltzing into journalism with no real determination, just a desire to make easy money, you will be kicked out faster than that weird uncle trying to visit at Thanksgiving dinner.
To succeed in such a competitive field, you must be staunch, fierce, resilient, and most importantly of all, your heart must be in it. If you don’t truly LOVE writing and everything it has to offer, you will be stuck in the same room that millions of people every year end up in. Being unhappy with their jobs and frustrated that they are not moving up. But I guarantee you, if you dedicate your life to the pursuit of truth, advocacy, and creativity, there is no one in the world of journalism that can stop you…other than yourself.