Are you a good listener or someone who loves to write? Then reporting jobs could be right for you. Ahh, the luxury of casting news in front of a camera with a whole nation listens and watches you!
There has been a lot of curiosity about what it truly means to be a news reporter. How do they speak so quickly without even stuttering? How do they manage to get into the scene in such haste? What do they feel when they hound those people in grief for the sake of an interview? How do they stay updated with all the happenings out there? Do they even sleep?
News reporters have a very challenging role in the community. They are the barriers between news and the society who are responsible for delivering action-packed events and facts of the world. With too few available positions in the field, it takes courage, expertise, and morale for someone with ambitions to work as a journalist. That said, the chances are small that most people could be the next top presenters on ABC News like Greg Jennett and Joe O’Brien.
But, who knows? To have high hopes and expectations for oneself is totally okay! If you are one of those aspiring journalists who’ve been setting their eyes on the news lately and believing they could do that, check out the signs and skills below to see if they sound like you.
You are an expert listener.
Are you always up for your best friend’s rants and stories? Well, if you are someone who is eager to listen and pay attention to what others are saying, know that your good listening skills could help you pursue a reporting career. During press conferences and interviews with authority, distinguished and celebrity speakers, reporters are only given one blow to process all the important details in mind and turn them into catchy stories.
With very limited time to generate news, you don’t always have enough time to listen back to your recordings one by one and look for the missing information. You need to have expert listening skills plus good memory in order to obtain more effective communication and contextualise stories from it.
You are always ‘in the know’.
Journalists have to stay updated with the world and the people around them. If you cannot live without news, your curiosity is another asset that could take you to your dream job.
You like to seek out the truth.
You have the will to live in the scene and analyse the ins and outs so that you can reveal the truth behind stories that remain unsolved. This is something that most reporters are lacking these days. If you want to be the best, you should always take a stance to fight for what is true.
You are a skilled writer.
With powerful ears that listen and great hands that write down information and interesting stats, you can effectively create a story to keep an eye on. If you have a natural appetite for writing articles and essay reports, you can consider working in the field.
You can multi-task.
Just because we see them reading the news on TV does not mean it is the only task attributed to a news reporter. No. A journalist must be able to work under pressure and on a series of assignments that involve setting up interviews and monitoring media sources for breaking news and interesting leads without decreasing effectivity. If you are comfortable in the idea of multi-tasking in your personal daily life, then it’s a great plus point in a reporting job.
You can handle your emotions very well.
Aspiring journalists will be entering a world full of crimes. You won’t be able to close your eyes to murder cases, accidents. Disturbing scenes could easily creep you up if you’ve got a poor stomach. If you can set aside your emotions towards these unbearable scenarios, then this career could be worth pursuing.