The website Stuff Journalists Like offers a check list to distinguish professional, die-hard journalists from bloggers and commentators on the Internet, as well as cub reporters who instantly believe they are ready for prime time.
It may mean little to many of you out there, but it sure was enjoyable to me.
Please read:
Checklist for being a “real” journalist
Think that J-school degree and a desk in a newsroom is all you need to call yourself a journalist? Think again. Journalists are made on deadlines. Here’s my checklist to see if you are truly a journalist.- Written a 15-inch story in 30 minutes
- Corrected a loved one’s grammar in a greeting card
- Replaced one of the major food groups with coffee
- Own your own police scanner
- Eat in your car more often than you do at a table
- Gotten fired/laid off for no good reason
- Forgotten what it’s like to have the weekend off
- Can no longer read a newspaper without scanning for typos and errors
- Learned that being told to “fuck off “ and “go to hell” is part of the job
- Woke in a cold sweat thinking you forgot to change the date on A1
- Spend your down time coming up with the perfect lede
- Slept in your car and not because you were too drunk to drive home
- Found that fine line between harassment and persistence
- If you needed bail, the first person you would call would be your editor
- You analyze city council meetings the way sportscasters break down Monday night football
- You think it’s normal to work 16 hours a day for 8 hours pay
- Have conducted a phone interview while completely naked
- Can write an entire interview on a cocktail napkin
- Threatened to quit over an editorial decision
- You couldn’t imagine doing anything else
Its like you read my mind! You appear to know so much about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you could do with some pics to drive the message home a little bit, but other than that, this is great blog. A great read. I will certainly be back.