A few days ago
Anonymous

How can I know if print journalism is the right major for me?

I am a junior in college and have just recently declared myself as a print journalism major. However, I am still not sure this is what i should get into. I figured i would like to get into magazines rather than anything else. Writing is not really my favorite thing to do, but i’m told i’m pretty good at it and I don’t mind doing it. But I am into layouts and things of that nature; which is why I figured magazines would be the route to go, but i really have no kind of experience under my belt in regards to the field. So I don’t know what I should do. Any type of suggestions or answers would be greatly appreciated.

Top 4 Answers
A few days ago
Deanna B

Favorite Answer

Follow your heart and do what you love
0

A few days ago
Love Exists?
well try out for the school news paper. A lot of journalism majors are on the news paper because as a print journalism major you can do the lay out now and all while others who are interested in writing write. That way you would see for your self if you like it and believe it or not journalism is a very competitive business. Being on the school paper will help you meet the right people. Also you might want to start freelancing because even though you want to go in the layout and all but people really have to know you specially for magazines. It might help if you get a couple of articles published.

I was on our high school news paper for 3 years. First years usually just get to be reporters. Go out get the story and the pictures. Real fun does not start till 2nd semester when you actually get to work on the lay out.

Good Luck!

1

A few days ago
Guilford C
Transfer to a school with a graphic design major, or double major in art/journalism. Print journalism is all about writing and reporting and if you don’t like to do those things you’ll be miserable. A good background in art will give you the best chance to land a job doing layouts after school.

The most important thing is to have a good portfolio – start working for school publications. Any decent sized school will have at least a literary magazine, maybe a culture one (mine has three) and working for them will let you build a portfolio. They won’t pay you, but at least in journalism, your samples need to have been published, which means classwork won’t cut it.

Good luck! If you’re transferring in your junior year, you’ll need it. Hope your parents are into the Van Wilder plan.

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A few days ago
CanProf
I’m betting that print journalism is going to be around and healthy much longer than facile technophiles think. I’d also bet that getting a good training in effective communications is something that will serve you well in a whole lot of jobs. I would though suggest to you that you take a strong minor in something of interest to you so that you’ll have a skill set and some good knowledge of an area which you can then bring to a possible journalism career. (What I mean, for example, is a biology minor so you could work in the area of science journalism, that kind of thing.)

Good luck.

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