Journalists have 2 choices in life: a) Attend work and be a mediocre journalist, or b) Appear as some kind of psychological misfit and strive to be a great journalist.
Source: newsshotter.com
So what is the best way to go about becoming a great journalist? Here are some tips:
#1. There is no escaping it: Hard work.
A great journalist is never just interviewing the stars. They spend a good few hours researching online and reading books on journalism to try and improve their trade - just like a blogger tries to get better at blogging by visiting problogger.net.
There is always a continuous improvement program made by great journalists. Self development is non-negotiable.
#2. The logical use of intelligence.
I have never met a great journalist who was not as sharp as a button. They are also very reflective and full of wisdom. They have great analytical skills once they collate all their data too.
They worry themselves by asking: What is it I really have here? What does it all amount up to? They always know the limits of what they have discovered.
Source: wordsandlyricss.files.wordpress.com
#3. A loving appetite for any kind of book.
I've never met a journalist who was not a huge reader of non-fiction from morning till night. The reading can be seen as a cause and effect of their excellent reportage skills.
They tend to have a curiosity worse than a cat, and are constantly seeking new books and the views of others. They tend to pick up new words and expressions very quickly.
They also seem to be aware of massive swathes of history, so they can appreciate the backdrop to any story they turn their hand to.
The universal law of journalism seem to state: the well read reporter will always make a good one, whilst the ill read reporter will never come to much.
In all my experience in journalism I've never seen an exception to this rule.
Happy reporting my fellow Steemians!
P.S. Find 'GLOBAL JOURNALIST PART #2: Where Do Those Interesting News Stories Comes From?' here:
@mindhunter/global-journalist-part-2-where-do-those-interesting-news-stories-comes-from