The future of journalism careers... good or bad?

[coolblue]

Ok, so I'm a journalism student. I'm wondering if this is a good choice of major. I apologize, I asked this question before but I never got the answer I was looking for. I realize newspapers are going downhill, and it's all going ONLINE- So, does this mean that all the writers and journalists and such will all have new jobs at their old publications... just transferred online if that newspaper has a Web site? Get what I mean?

I figured we'll all need journalists and writers and all that, it's kind of a future-proof career that way.

A bit unrelated question... Could I be a technical writer or Web editor for a company with a B.S. in Journalism and a diploma in computer science? Or would they want just the opposite?

Thanks for the help.

 

[DavidL]

you obviously go to a shitty journalism school or they would have allayed all of your fears by now.

for one, its not all going online. newspaper readership has been in the can for decades, but the core group who still buys them is the same one who has bought them for decades. newspapers, like physical books as opposed to e-books, are tangible, excellent sources for ad revenues even now, and are a part of Americana. the problem may be that small-time papers will disappear. however, you can read the top 5 papers by readership and see that they've evolved in the past 5 years to meet the demands of the e-journalism world. they have deeper stories, exclusive content, coupons, classifieds, comics, features, and the like that make the online paper a complement to the hard-copy. for example, breaking news for small papers isn't available online very often.

and you're right, we do need journalists and writers and all of that. not only that, but culture is exploding in size. it's said that aristotle was the last man to entirely know his culture. that's because our culture is so just big, that we have to have journalists filling in these niches. you'll find that if they don't, a blog or magazine pops up eventually and makes a killing cornering the market. to further put you at ease, the bureau of labor predicts (recently) that the number of jobs for journalists will actually increase by 2% by 2012.

and finally, i dont think BS's in journalism exist, only BA's. but that being said, there's a large portion of the journalism world that scoffs at journalism school to begin with. they argue that its great, useful, and good, but ultimately a source of income for schools and professors because a journalist cant be taught to be great, just like an author can't get a BA in english and become an instant success as a novelist. journalism, like any art form, requires a portfolio of your work for when you apply for jobs. that is, they dont care about your gpa or degree, as long as you have one, they want to see what youve written, produced, or edited. start writing for your school paper and any technical websites you can find, if thats your area of preference. but to actually answer your final question, you'll most likely be better off if you actually learn about your subject matter (the CS major). take the basic journalism classes, anything you think youll need, and start writing immediately.

im a junior, switched my major to journalism last spring semester, and ive written dozens of articles for the school paper (princeton review's number one, fyi), produced three segments for the school radio broadcast, and have an internship at a cbs radio station. when i graduate, i'll have people actually wanting me because they can see that i know how to write. if you dont have a portfolio, they wont just hire you based on a promise that youll be a good writer. because the fact is, until youre published you arent.