What steps should I take in becoming a news reporter?

Question

What should I be doing NOW as a sophomore in high school? My school isn't that big, and the only thing that is helping me with reporting is the newspaper and my english honors class. Is there anything else I can be doing? Or do I just have to wait until college?

***Also, is Northwestern a good school for what I want to pursue? I also don't know what to study for my major............. Communications, Journalism, Advertising, Broadcast Journalism? What should I take a minor in? Thanks so much.

Answer 1

Your English course will be a big help.  Check to see what college offers the best courses fin journalism.  Normally broadcast, communications, and public relations is offered within journalism major.  In your second year of college be sure you do internship with a newspaper group because it may lead to a job or resources.  In the meantime, check with your junior college and see if journalism is offered for the summer session.

Answer 2

Job shadow! Call your local newspaper and ask if you can look over an editor's shoulder as he's putting the paper together. See if you can tag along with a reporter. Print journalists are generally very supportive of young people who want to learn the trade because most kids want to be on TV news.

Start cultivating relationships now. Like anyone else, journalists tend to hire people they know. Pick out a few papers you'd like to work for one day and visit them. Bring in a few of your clips and ask for a critique.

At my paper, we have occasionally hired high school students as interns during the summer. One was so successful that she was editing copy and laying out pages by the end of the summer. If you can't get an internship, ask about the possibility of writing a few freelance articles.

Finally, when you go to college, make sure you intern at a good paper. Often, newspapers hire directly out of their pool of interns, so apply at papers where you could see yourself working.

As for which concentration to select, you can pick that once you're in college and have taken a couple beginning journalism classes. Talk to your adviser about what career you want, and he'll tell you which to choose. Also, you'll probably have a lot of leeway when it comes to choosing a minor. If you want to report on a specific subject, minor in that field. For example, if you want to report on Wall Street, choose business. If you want to report on the environment, pick environmental science.

Good luck!