As a practicing student journalist, I hear a lot of stuff about my major from people that don't fully understand the study of the profession. Here are the top six misconceptions you probably have about journalism majors.
1. Journalism is "dead."
I wanted to save this one, but I hear it so frequently I couldn't help but lead off with this common misconception of journalism. Once and for all, journalism ISN'T DEAD, but the way you get news is definitely evolving. Newspapers are absolutely a struggling enterprise, TV news is trending more and more to the sensational, but the concept of reliable information-gathering and disseminating will never die. In fact, I would argue that in the age of the Internet, where anyone can report anything to a mass audience, reliable reporting has never been more important. So no, journalism isn't dead.
2. So you want to work for a newspaper then?
This isn't 1910, there are more ways to get news out than just a newspaper. That's like asking an accounting major what bank they want to work for. Modern journalism education preaches being flexible and acquiring the skills to tell stories on a variety of platforms. Whether it is for the web, TV or radio, any well-educated journalist has not only the skills but usually some internship experience writing for a variety of platforms, so the end goal isn't necessarily to write for The New York Times.
3. We don't do any work in college.
This stereotype is generally extended to all communications majors, but at least in the case of journalism majors it isn't always the case. Many journalism majors take a full course load to go along with internships and writing for student or online publications. Sure, we aren't slaving away in a lab or buried up to our neck in library books, but that doesn't mean we don't have our own mountains to climb. Most would gawk at the idea of writing a couple of thousand words a week, but for a journalism major it is par for the course.
4. We're grammar Nazis.
Imagine being a culinary professional for a second. Food is your career, and when someone cooks a dish for too long, you notice more often than not. That is kind of what it is like to be a journalism major. Arranging words in grammatically coherent sentences is kind of our thing as journalists, and whether we mention it or not, it makes us cringe a little when you mix up to, too and two. We try not to call you out on every little mistake, but give us a break if we struggle to hold our tongue. After all, it is kind of what we do as writers.
5. We're always on our phones.
We're far from the only millennials guilty of this social epidemic, but journalists tend to get a bad rap as people that are always on their phones. Whether it's keeping up with our favorite teams, celebrities or politicians, journalists are notorious for the news notifications on our phones. We're also very good multi-taskers and listeners though, and we'll always ask you to repeat yourself if we missed something. It is a question we are not afraid to ask because of our experience interviewing subjects for stories.
6. We push deadlines.
Journalists are notorious procrastinators, but at the end of the day you can bet the farm that we'll get the job done. We also place great pride in being on time, another trait we tend to pick up from meeting interviewees.
What other stereotypes or perceptions do you have about journalists? Tweet me: @ZacBellman_WNY
