The Role of the Journalist
Journalists must be able to gather information and present it to readers (or viewers) in a way that makes it easy to understand. They must keep audiences up to date and informed about important local, national, and even world events. A journalist's assignments depend on their personal writing style, their skills, any background knowledge they have on the topic, and the editorial bent of the publisher where their writing will appear in. Journalists work in many different places such as newspapers, magazines, television, and radio, to specialty papers and corporate publications. One new journalism area is online; these ''bloggers'' cover events and write columns in web-based publications seen all over the world.
The Exciting World of Broadcast Journalism
When most of us think of journalists, we typically think of the hard charging reporter delivering his story to the local newspaper. Many of the most visible reporting jobs today happen in the area of broadcast journalism. Typically, broadcasting journalism jobs are in radio or television. There are many kinds of broadcast journalists. Some deal in stories about business and finance. Others cover politics, current events, or other topics. Science reporters follow stories about new breakthroughs in technology and science. There are even entire networks devoted to covering crime and legal stories. Between the enormous expansion of cable networks, talk shows and specialty news outlets, there are many new ways to seek a career in broadcast journalism.
You might also be surprised to find that most broadcast journalists work behind the glamorous newsroom sets, researching, interviewing, and writing stories that are read by photogenic newsreaders or anchors. Combining both journalistic skills with compelling on-air personalities, legendary TV journalists like Tom Brokaw and Walter Cronkite often define the events of their times.
On the Air
Thinking of following in the steps of Tom Brokaw? There are a few things, you will need to consider before starting your career on the small screen. Firstly, people who actually appear on the camera are known in the broadcast journalism business as ''on-air personalities'', ''announcers'' (or in the UK as ''news readers'' or ''presenters.'') The role of an on air personality also requires a different skill set than many other journalism jobs. You must not only be able to research, interview and write stories, but must also be able to reads scripts and convey complicated information in a clear and authoritative manner. It helps to be photogenic if you want to work in television, but it is even more important to have the right aura and the quality of believability. On-air personalities often must be both informative and reassuring at once, and this quality is the most important aspect of the job. Many photogenic people who start working in lighter broadcasting jobs often find that a lack of this ''gravitas'' stops them cold from moving into the more serious roles filled by news announcers and the anchor slots.
Going for the Job
With fame and fortune being at stake, it is not a surprise that the competition for these jobs is very high. You will need something extra to stand out from the crowd, since on-air personalities are expected to be well spoken, and have the ability to be knowledgeable on quite a number of topics. A broadcasting degree from a broadcasting school, technical school, or college may be a good start, but if you are planning to go for an on-air position, some experience in acting classes or presentation workshops will also be important (after all, you will be dealing with public). Experience as an intern at a local TV or radio station, or as an on-air personality in a college radio station or local cable access TV show are very good ways to get the necessary experience, but it might still take some time before you reach the announcer slot you're looking for. You'll frequently begin with service announcements or some other pre-recorded jobs, then, if you have solid skills, work your way up the ladder as a substitute for announcers who already have on-air positions, or as a field reporter on a local TV station.
There is no formal educational requirement for an anchor or broadcast journalist job, although the main requirement for any on-air position will typically be several years in the broadcasting field first. Many writers work their way up the ladder until they can find work as field reporters. These people are often called upon during a TV broadcast to deliver reports from the site of an important event.
Major on-air personalities spend many years working up the career ladder, starting with local stations where they fill field slots, move to anchor or on-air slots, and parlay this experience into jobs in larger ''markets.'' It is rare that an on-air personality makes it to the national level without spending some time as a successful ''talent'' in one of the major ''market'' cities such as New York, LA, Chicago, San Francisco or another large city.
Working Conditions
All journalism careers are high pressure, but on-air personality jobs are especially so. Not only must you be able to hit deadlines with well-written, carefully researched stories, (otherwise, your network may face serious legal repercussions) and entertaining, but you must also maintain your physical appearance and constantly work on your presentation and delivery skills. You may find yourself traveling all the time, and this travel may take you to dangerous places. A successful career can be both financially (top end anchors like Tom Brokaw make millions) and emotionally rewarding (breaking a top story can change the lives of millions), but the road will be long and you must be prepared to work very hard (over long, long hours) to reach the goal.
Salaries
Radio announcer jobs include a wide variety of markets, so salaries can also vary widely. Salaries are hourly, and on the low side, with a median salary typically around $11.69 per hour, with a low at about $6.55/ hr., and 10% of earners at the top end, coming in at about $29.69/hr. National on-air personalities are usually contracted at much higher annual salaries ranging upwards into the millions of dollars, but these positions are relatively rare.
Advancement Potential
It can be hard to transfer writing skills into an on-air position; most of these positions develop from people who have worked in TV or radio positions rather than writing/reporting jobs. However, if you start working towards on-air positions, you will find the going a bit easier—although the competition will still be fierce.
