Students majoring in journalism and communications are often the people giving a voice to the voiceless, but they don't always have someone sticking up for them when they get one or more of these few questions.
1. That's a dying industry.
First, are you trying to crush the hopes and dreams of every journalism student? Second, and more importantly, it's not a dying industry—it's a changing industry. Many careers in journalism and communications are transitioning with the times and more tech-savvy lives, but that in no way means that the industry is becoming extinct. In fact, recent and upcoming graduates should excel in helping the industry make the transition.
2. Your classes aren't even hard.
If you have spent even one day at the journalism college, then you should know how hard those students work. We may not have as many exams on what formula will determine how long it takes for a ball falling from a 100 story building to hit the ground, but journalism and communications majors spend hours, days, and even weeks perfecting projects.
3. It's not easy to get a job in that field.
Is it truly “easy" to get a job in any field? I must say that journalism and communications students are lucky and fortunate to have so many opportunities and so many different kinds of jobs in the field. Students can work in the broadcasting industry, reporting, producing, editing, etc. They can work for papers, magazines, publishing industries, in public relations. The career possibilities really are endless.
4. But you won't make any money.
Any journalism/communications student that doesn't know this is in the wrong field, but the ones that are majoring in this field already know this. One thing you should know about journalism majors is that they're not in it for the money. Students who major in journalism and communications do so because they truly enjoy it. They love meeting new people and finding out their stories, they love finding and digging for information that people wouldn't normally think about, and they can't wait to meet their everyday deadlines and see a finished product that will reach hundreds or thousands of people. It's not about the money in this industry.
5. So you want to edit books (or insert job description here) for the rest of your life.
Or work nights, or holidays, with little pay if you didn't catch that. The first time someone said this to me, I was so caught off guard. Then it occurred to me that I could have said something similar about their major. It's not the right field for everyone, just like nursing, engineering and marine science aren't the right fields for journalism majors. Lucky for us, we get to tell everyone about the good (or bad) news that happens in those fields though. We get to tell the stories of the amazing nurses who saved a baby's life and the engineer with a new invention that will change yours. Journalism and communications students are in it for the values and rewards that those moments have to offer.
