Becoming a journalist: is it worth it?

Being a language student, my professional future is still very uncertain. Since I don’t have any notion of science or economy, nor any particular skill, there isn’t a wide range of possibilities for me. To be honest, there’s only one thing I’m good at and that I also enjoy doing, and that thing is writing. In my free time I write poetry and short stories, and I’d really love to have a job which allowed me to write a lot. I’ve been considering some possibilities, including becoming a journalists. But after doing some reading and discussing this topic in class, I became a little unsure whether that’s a good idea. Why? Let’s consider some pros and cons of being a journalist.

First of all, a big jump into reality: the average salary for s journalist is £24.500, and a trainee usually gets paid around £15.000 (if he/she’s lucky…). These salaries are extremely low, especially considering that journalists can work up to 60 hours per week.

Being a journalist/reporter is also an exhausting job, and most of the working hours are spent in crowded and noisy offices, often at unsocial hours. So, if you want to become a journalist, say goodbye to nights out with your friends: you won’t have the time, and probably won’t be able to afford any drinks.

A big pro, however, is that journalists have the possibility to travel a lot; sure, usually at short notice, but hey, it’s still travelling! Moreover, reporters meet tons of people (sometimes even very important personalities) and let’s not forget the most important part of the job, they are informed about events much sooner than us ‘normal’ people. And they have the big honour (and the big responsibility…) of letting the world know what’s going on. And that’s absolutely amazing, for me.

I came to the conclusion that maybe I will have the possibility to work as a freelance reporter, perhaps as a second job or in my free time, so that i might share this huge honour too. This is still just a dream, it it will hardly become true, but dreaming I’d good, sometimes, and, as Joe Strummer once said,

the future is unwritten.