Early 30s prospective career-changer - best route to paid work in journalism?

Question

I've got a background in not-for-profit admin (which includes some project management, research, and a fair bit of internal communications).

I envision a career wherein I balance freelance communications work with proper journalistic writing. I'm not averse to taking on other production roles to make ends meet.

I don't have an MA, or a specialised professional background. Would it be in my interest to do a post-grad qualification in journalism?

Or would it be more pragmatic, from a selling-myself-as-an-older-person-with-a... point of view, to do an MA in social science (my undergrad, which I still love) and do short courses in specific fields (e..g, sub-editing, layout, etc.)?

Answer 1

Honestly, an academic degree is not a requirement for journalism.  It can be helpful, yes, but from most of the professionals I've spoke with, greater emphasis is placed on your experience, curiosity and writing ability.

To that end, before you start applying for jobs, you may want to consider doing some freelance journalism of the sort you're interested in.  You're generally not going to need layout or copy editing skills unless you want to be a copy/layout editor rather than a reporter, but they'll still come in handy.  You'll definitely want to familiarize yourself with AP Style, at any rate.  In today's market, it's important to have some new media experience - blogs, video, etc.  You also might consider trying to get an internship somewhere.

Basically, whether you want to go the master's route is up to you.  It can be interesting, and a good jump-start, especially if you attend a school that's well-connected in the industry, but it's by no means a necessity.

By the way - I'm not sure what you meant by "balanc[ing] freelance communications work with proper journalistic writing," but if you're working for a paper or other organization, you'll probably be discouraged from taking outside jobs due to conflict of interest.

Best of luck with your career change!