Tuesday, June 23, 2015

5 reasons why I want to be broadcast journalist (rather than write for papers or magazines)

Reason #1.

Visualization vs just verbalization: anything hits you much stronger when you see and hear about it than if you read it from the lifeless piece of paper. Even a photo captures only single moment of the event or emotion: it cannot express the whole range of life’s nuances. You can say so much more with just five seconds shot than you would read in a whole-page article.
As a public, we feel it deeper when we see something with our own eyes, we “believe” in it. The Ethiopian famine of the early 1980s was written about in newspapers at length for some time, but with little reaction. Only when BBC Television beamed the horrors of starvation to the West’s meal tables did the public sit up and take notice.

Reason #2.  

Moreover, there is so much more for creativity and originality in the playful combination of words, moving pictures and sounds. Got bored with dull news you have to report? Create your own masterpiece by mixing up the words with controversial picture or getting a shot from an interesting angle. I noticed it when interning with a TV news station: even the most tiresome piece can be transformed into Mona Lisa with a nice flow of information and beautiful close-ups.

Reason #3.  

Newsroom is a huge family living under one roof and intercommunicating every spare second. Recommendations, rumors, dramas, jokes, pranks – you can find anything in the electrified atmosphere of a TV newsroom. People are bond to work together as their final piece is a result of a team work: it takes at least, a reporter, a photographer, and a producer. In short words, communication and relationships are vital components of broadcasting which brings us to …

Reason #4.

 99% of the broadcasting employees are naturally positive and energetic. Thousands of people watch you on their screens every day: you got to be cheerful and easy-going. Even if you are behind the scene, how can you be down in the crowd of smiling reporters and anchors? Every time I would enter a newsroom in a horrible mood, two minutes later my gloomy look would disappear without a trace. I still miss all the jokes and pranks of our photographers (you can’t survive at this profession without some sarcasm in your blood) and shining eyes of our reporters when found a great “pitch”.

Reason #5.  

Just one word. Adrenaline. None of the breathtaking stories and investigations to write about for newspaper can compare with racing to catch the police speaker-man making a statement about the “just-happened” murder and to manage to put him on air before any other station. Or this moment when a kidnapped girl was returned to her parents just 2 minutes before 5pm show right in front of the reporter to be on air.

Job where you never know what’s going to happen in the next minute. For me, that’s a description of perfect job.

No comments:

Post a Comment