Journalist
As a journalist, you write articles for newspapers, magazines, and websites, or you make reports for radio and TV.
What does a journalist do?
- Process information. Journalists are real information guzzlers. In many cases, the news is delivered through news agencies such as the ANP. You can decide to publish something about a topic based on press releases.
- Conducting research. You study the topics you tackle thoroughly. You consult experts (often by telephone) and go out to investigate cases. As a journalist, you determine, among other things, the news value of subjects.
- Making contacts. For example, you approach people for interviews or information.
- To write. As a journalist, you write texts, makeup headlines, and make captions for photos. When you work for radio or television, you contribute in audiovisual form, for example, a program item.
- Follow the news. As a journalist you not only write, you also follow all the news yourself via various media. You are a real generalist. You have to deal with all kinds of subjects.
Roll
Researcher, you are a news hunter who is always looking for new topics. Sometimes you get assignments from an editorial team, sometimes you take the initiative yourself. Sometimes your subjects are close to home, other times you travel all over the world. Translator, you are constantly transforming events or facts from reality into written information. You always keep in mind who you are writing for: your reader must be able to understand and remain interested. Writer, above all you are always busy with words and sentences. You work a lot with word processors, computers, or laptops.
Where do you work as a journalist?
You will meet journalists at:
- newspapers
- trade magazines
- weekly magazines
- door-to-door papers
- public magazines
- radio and television programs
- news agencies
There are also freelance journalists who work for multiple clients such as ‘seo malaysia’. There is an overlap in the work area of journalists, editors, and copywriters. Sometimes you are an editor as well as a journalist.
What is your place in the organization?
You are often part of an editorial team of a particular medium. You will be sent out by editors or editors-in-chief or you can submit topics to your editorial team. You participate in editorial meetings and work in a team to a certain extent. Your work as a journalist is also corrected, edited, and incorporated by an editor. The business management of a publication rests with a publisher. The employer is often a publisher.
How do you become a journalist?
There is one important higher vocational education program for journalists: the higher vocational education program in Journalism. You can follow this training in a limited number of places in the Netherlands. Each training has its own character. For example, there are two study programs for journalists based on religious belief: the Christelijke Hogeschool Windesheim and the Christelijke Hogeschool Ede. This training uses the Bible as a starting point. At most colleges, you can only do the Journalism study program full-time. A few university colleges also offer a part-time variant. The courses all have a practical approach, in which the execution of assignments is central. You will also take many courses in the fields of languages, history, society and politics, media and mass communication, law and regulations, and economics. There are various specializations such as written press, radio, and television, photography, design, or digital media. We also work with the major/minor structure: in addition to your main specialization (major), you also choose a subsidiary subject (minor). In the four-year courses, there is room for approximately six months of internship and during your graduation year, you will work on a concrete end product.