Best jobs. Journalism as a top job forever for the head and soul
The best profession: journalism
When choosing a profession, we choose a business that we want to do well in, which we like and, as a rule, that can feed us. The best profession does not necessarily fulfill only one of these factors. Professions can be several – depending on how much our interests, preferences, and motivations change over the years. Working only for the sake of money does not bring pleasure. According to statistics, people are more often ill and unhappy in their personal lives due to the fact that they are not satisfied in a professional sense, do not have a particular interest in what they are doing or, when doing the work mechanically, do not feel they are needed. Life becomes a routine with all the ensuing consequences.
Doing business just because we like it is much more useful for health (above all, it concerns creative people or those who are inclined to self-sacrifice). But the lack of proper money rewards can also become a stimulus for depression.
The conclusion is obvious – one must seek and achieve in life a balance of interests: material and spiritual.
In the modern world, there are more than 40 thousand different kinds of jobs. However, the world of professions is far from static. New ones are constantly being born, and old professions are dying. Of course, in real life, no one can try everything. But a man is curious by nature. And, probably, each of us at least once in a life asked himself the question: “What if I became …?” Or “And how is it to be a…?”.
Incredible, but true: contact with all major job activities can be done with the help of one single profession – journalism. Journalists write about everything and about all who or what is of interest to society – that is, readers.
The journalist can be a correspondent, reporter, leading columnist, editor of the department, editor-in-chief, sound engineer, observer, commentator, etc. The circle of journalists’ communication is immeasurable: today they talk with a doctor, tomorrow with an astronaut, and the day after tomorrow with a movie star. And getting ready for a meeting and asking questions they get into the crux of the issues, which is trying to look at the world through the eyes of their interlocutors as if they were in their shoes. Journalism is a universal key that fits any door. A persistent, and therefore professional journalist will always get a response from the person they need and be able to skillfully use it in their material.
Journalism is an equally suitable job for both men and women. Both for young people and adults. And this is one of the few professions that can not be learned. Of course, throughout the world, there are institutes and universities that offer to study this specialty at the faculties of journalism – television, radio, and newspaper. However, it is not necessary to graduate from university to be at the center of the most interesting events, to communicate with people, to analyze and transmit information.
Journalism is not just a profession, it’s a vocation, a lifestyle. And this is a great power – after all, journalists have always had and have a huge impact on others. Good journalists are appreciated for informing the public on time. People are curious, they want to keep abreast of various events (be they the latest developments in medicine or nuclear physics, the weather forecast, the bankruptcy of a bank or the construction of a new kindergarten in a nearby street). “Be warned means be armed”. “Praemonitus – praemunitus”, says the ancient Latin proverb, in other words, anyone who pre-knows the information has the opportunity to prepare for troubles, difficulties, or, on the contrary, benefit from the situation. Therefore, this profession is always in demand.
However, we should not forget that journalists can, and sometimes deliberately seek to manipulate opinion. And it happens the other way round – when the journalist himself is manipulating in the interests of this or that newsmaker, behind whom stand those who own the real power. Therefore, it is always necessary to treat information with some caution and to perceive it not as a matter of course, but only as a stimulus for further thinking.
A very important fact in favour of this profession is also that the journalist, unlike, for example, an office worker, a doctor or a teacher, is not attached to any place. Todays he only needs a computer, internet and mobile phone (or video camera and microphone – depending on the specialization). Journalism is a free profession. True, this primarily applies to freelance writers, not editorial staff. But by and large, you can do journalism from anywhere in the world, traveling the world, enriching yourself with new experiences and knowledge, and sharing them with readers.
In this article, we will not talk about democracy and freedom of speech. Freedom of speech and democracy are two relative concepts. This or that media always belongs to someone, so the bias in the articles will be put in one way or another depending on how profitable the owner of the media is. But modern journalism has gone further – there are social networks, blogs, and information sites – there are a lot of them on the Internet. Therefore, to complain today that we lack information is absurd. We have an overabundance. And not to get lost in the crowd, a good journalist is always looking for an original way of presenting information (using visual materials, a play on words or some other special creative methods).
Journalism, at last, is a good chance for all ambitious and hardworking people to become famous. It is this profession that will make it possible to gain fame quickly and relatively easily. If you are a TV host, for example, millions of people can watch you every day online.
But it is worth mentioning about the “pitfalls”. Journalism (as, indeed, any other profession) requires huge amounts of energy. As, unlike the same office workers with a stable schedule, the journalist’s working day is often longer. And not everything always goes well. To prepare a good article or a story, sometimes it takes hours, days and even weeks to wait until the person needed by a journalist (a famous politician, businessman, musician or sportsman) gives them their time.
The profession of a journalist is also considered dangerous: business trips to “hot spots”, to extreme places are possible. The profession of a journalist requires a frantic pace of work, maximum endurance, perseverance and a talent for communicating with people. And as a reward – a huge baggage of new knowledge – day after day.
And the financial component plays far from the last role in the choice of this profession. Modern high-quality professional journalism is a fairly high-paying profession.
