Lifestyle to Livelihood: Journalist/Music Journalist

Do you love to write? Love listening to music and going to concerts or films? Do you have an opinion on everything? Then journalism is the job for you!

So, how do you become a journalist?

Step 1: Send samples of your writing to magazines

Send samples of your writing to magazines as they may like it and offer you a freelance position. Only send in samples of writing that would interest the magazine.

For example, if you are sending an article to a music magazine, make sure it is about music and not about the plight of women in Afghanistan. Know your market.

Get the name of the editor of the magazine and address the work directly to her/him. If you just address it “To the Editor”, it will be thrown straight into the bin. Being a journalist requires investigative skills and if you can’t be bothered to find out the name of an editor, you won’t get far. You can find out the name of the editor either in the contact section of the magazine, online or in “The Writers Handbook”.

Make sure your grammar and spellings are perfect – there is nothing worse than sending off a letter saying you want to be writer, when the letter is full of mistakes. It shows sloppy presentation and poor writing skills. Make sure your writing is perfect and well presented.

Step 2: Send samples of your work to your favourite writer

Send your work to your favourite writers to ask for their advice. Be specific about what you want them to help you with (e.g. style of writing, is it informative enough etc). Include a stamped addressed envelope (SAE) so they can post a response back to you for free.

Don’t just send the work to them without a covering letter. Explain in the letter who you are, what you are hoping to achieve (e.g. to become a music journalist) and details about the samples of the work you have sent them (e.g. this is a piece of work that I had published in the local newspaper/sent off to a writing competition etc).

Don’t feel embarrassed to praise the work of your favourite writer in your cover letter. For example, “your superb writing inspired me to want to become a journalist myself. Your article on (example) was an amazing critique of music in today’s industry”. A little bit of flattery never hurts and they are more likely to respond to your letter if you are nice to them.

Step 3: If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em

If you are having no luck getting your work published, start your own fanzine – this will develop your skills as a writer, plus you’ll learn what content sells so you can focus your writing. You can publish your fanzine online, which will save on printing costs and reach a wider audience.

Step 4: Go to university

Although writing is a natural talent, it is one of those talents that can improve dramatically with the proper training. If you can, try to go on to university. You will learn how to improve your writing skills, whether you do a journalistic course or not.

All unis will ask you to construct essays. This may not sound like the kind of writing you want to do, but learning to write a good essay teaches you invaluable research skills, how to construct a good argument and how to get your point across clearly.

See below for some advice about applying to uni and filling in a UCAS form.

Step 5: Write for a newspaper as a freelancer

Whether its the local rag or your student paper, try and get some articles published in them. This will give you some published work to add to your portfolio, it will get you used to writing to deadlines, and it will get you some good contacts in the industry. Don’t expect to be paid much, if at all (especially if you are writing for a student paper), treat it simply as a great way to get experience.

If you want to write for your local paper, talk to the editor about doing some freelance work. Make sure you have a portfolio of your work to show her, whether it has been published or not, and make sure the samples are relevant for the type of article they want you to write.

Step 6: Blag it, baby

An interesting idea, recommended by the BBC OneMusic site, is to phone up press officers and try and blag free tickets to concerts in order to interview the celebs. Offer to publish your interviews in a student paper, your local rag, your fanzine or on your website if you have one. All publicity is good publicity.

Step 7: Work at it

If you can, try and get work experience at a publishing house or at a local paper. You won’t get paid, but you will get some great experience to add to your UCAS form or CV, and some great contacts for the future. Who knows, they may love you so much that you get offered a job straight away.

Step 8: Going live on the air

OK, this will not appeal to shrinking violets. If your idea of journalism means staying firmly behind your laptop, then this is not for you. However, if you like the idea of being a radio or TV journo, offer to review music/films/concerts for your local radio or TV station. Be especially keen to review new talent – your radio/TV station will love being the first one to discover the next Big Thing. You can then go on air and give the review – this will enhance your communication skills, and you could even learn to be a presenter.

If you are nervous about the thought of going live on air, film yourself giving music reviews/film reviews and upload it to YouTube. It will be great practice, and you may be talent spotted.

Step 9: See it in the flesh

If you want to be a music journalist, you must see live music. Try and go to gigs. If your parents won’t let you go on your own, invite them along or another adult to supervise you. You may feel uncool going with the ‘rents, but this is for work, and you need to show a professional attitude. It is the music you are going for, not to look cool. Also, a lot of the large concert venues, such as Brixton Academy, won’t let you go without adult supervision if you are under 14, so check out with the venue in advance.

Step 10: Work your way up

Be prepared to work your way up. Get a job at a magazine or newspaper selling advertising, or anything they are offering, and then apply for staff writing positions when they become available. If you have already worked in the company before applying for the staff writing position, you will be more likely to get it as they know you.

You may think this is unlikely, but it is actually quite a common way to get into the industry, as the story of our very own editor demonstrates. She started working for a national games magazine selling advertising, then, when a writing position became available, she went for it and got the job, because they already knew her and liked her work.

e-Mo went on to become Young Journalist of the Year and was the Editor’s Choice for the industry publication MCV. She then became an editor for international publications, and now owns her own media company - all of this whilst she is still in her 20s. How cool is that?

Step 11: Getting the Skillz

Here are some of the skills you'll need to be a good journalist.
 
Music/Film/Current Events Knowledge

If you want to be a journalist, you need to be an expert in your chosen field. If you know a reasonable amount about a lot of things, you can write general articles. However, a good idea is to find a specialism and go with that. Magazines and papers need specialists who live and breathe their subject of interest.

If you want to be a music journalist, you will need a very good knowledge of all types of popular music, past and present. If you want to specialise into a particular genre, this is even better. If you love punk or Goth Metal, then stick with that and focus your work in that area. After all, the readers will know if you know what you are talking about. 
 
Writing Ability

Take writing courses, write for a local paper or student rag, and keep practising. The better you become, the more likely you are to get work. 
 
Good Telephone Manner

Make sure you have a good telephone technique. To secure the information you need, you will need to learn to conduct good interviews over the phone. Additionally, if you are reporting to a radio station, you will probably have to broadcast your review over a phone. Speak slowly, clearly, and prepare what you are going to say before you pick up the phone. Make one word notes to help you remember what to say.

A good tip to know is that newsreaders and TV journalists learn to speak at 3 words per second. This is a really comfortable speed to talk at, whilst also being clear. It also allows the journos to time exactly how long their broadcast is going to be just by looking at the word count. Clever, no? 
 
Be a Good Critic

This does not mean slagging off your sister’s new haircut, but using educated judgement about whether what you are hearing/seeing is up to standard, or even better. To be a good critic, you need to be able to judge the strengths and weaknesses of the artist you are reviewing, and judge quickly. In the case of new talent, which may be breaking new ground, you need to be able to tell if it will appeal to the market or fall flat. 
  
Researching Ability

Journalists have to be good at doing research. You will need to find out the facts quickly to meet your deadlines, and make sure they are accurate, so you don’t get a load of rubbish published. If you publish something that is incorrect, the publication can get into a lot of trouble, so make sure your facts are true. 
 
Learn to Interview People
 
All good journalists learn how to conduct a good interview, which will enable you to get the information you need, not what the artist wants you to know. For example, you may want to know about a major rap star’s broken relationship, and he will just want to talk about his new album. Make sure you steer an interview to cover the issues you want to write about. 
 
Be Brave

Journalists are often disliked by artists and their agents as they ask questions that the artist doesn’t want to answer. They may be aggressive towards you. Be cool, keep your wits about you and stand your ground. Don’t let them intimidate you. After all, even the most famous celebrity needs good press. If they are mean to you, you can write an article saying how horrid they are and they will lose fans. Think positive and don’t take any crap. 
 
Be a People Person

Make friends with people in the industry you are interested in and keep in contact with them. For example, if you want to write about film, make friends with people in the film industry – they will be more likely to tip you off if some interesting news comes up, and they will send you the first press release. This will help you get some mega scoops. However, be honest – don’t pretend you aren’t a journo, be upfront about why you are being friendly with them. If you are told something off the record, don’t print it without permission (unless you have too), as you could get people into a lot of trouble.
 
Working to Deadlines

As a good journalist, you will have to meet tight deadlines every day. If you miss one deadline, you can pretty much guarantee you won’t be hired again by that publication. After all, if you are meant to write a 500 word article to be printed the next day, but miss the deadline, the newspaper will have a huge blank section with no time to fill it. This doesn’t make the paper look good and you will get into a lot of trouble.

If you struggle to get your homework done on time, you will seriously need to learn this skill.

REALITY CHECK
 
Salary

Don’t expect to make millions as a journalist. As a freelancer, you can expect to earn between 10p and 20p per word, which works out at about �50 – �100 for a 500 word article. If you work as a junior staff writer for a magazine or newspaper, you can expect to start on �10,000. Editors can expect �18,000+. 
 
Hours
 
You will be expected to work from about 10am – 6pm in the office. If you are a music or film reviewer, you will be expected to spend your evenings attending gigs or premieres, and many weekends. You may be expected to write up the review straight away, which means not getting to bed until 3am! This also applies for interviews you might have to do, if the artist is in a different country and time zone. 
 
UCAS Applications & Extra-Curricular Activities

Check out the NCTJ (www.nctj.com) for listings of journalism courses. Lots of universities offer good journalism courses, but two of the main media universities are Bournemouth and Westminster.

Competition to get to any university is high, so you need to make sure that you write a good UCAS application. Here are some tips about writing your UCAS form, and what sort of extra-curricular activities the university will have expected you to take part in:

1. Make sure you clearly explain why you want to be a journalist, and what your ambitions are for the future.

For example: “I am passionate about becoming a journalist, with my aim to be to writer for a top newspaper/magazine such as (insert name of publication). High quality journalism offers the audience different points of view about a variety of subjects, can broach controversial issues that need to be raised and can spread an important message to millions of people. A good journalist has the power to make a positive impact upon society and industry, and it is because of this that I am determined to become a journalist. In order to achieve my ambition, I have started my own fanzine, I have entered/won several writing competitions/I write for my local paper/I review music for my local radio station... “

2. Make sure you list all of your relevant extra-curricular activities. Do you write for a local paper? Do you have your own fanzine? Have you had any work published? Are you writing a novel? If so, let them know!

3. Make sure there are no spelling or grammatical errors on your UCAS form! This is true of any course you may be applying for, but especially when you are applying for a writing or journalism course.