Life as a journalist sucks. Straight up. It’s like, we all know that our outlook isn’t the great unless we’re Internet genius or are willing to (gasp) work in the broadcast side of things. And seriously, how is broadcast any better off than print? After all, I went into print for a reason, anyway.
The fact is, being a journalist right now is not an easy thing to do. Not that any other job is necessarily easy, but it’s different. The way I see it is this: it you’re an established journalist, you’re probably going to be okay and if you’re like me, a soon-to-be graduate, you’re probably screwed unless you can do everything. But the problem with that is, schools are behind. While media institutions are looking for people who can do multiple things, schools are still teaching separate tracks (like print, broadcast, etc.).
I decided last semester that I didn’t want to pursue journalism as a career. Mostly because I can’t stand the state of journalism right now. But also because it’s not worth all of the headache. Newspapers are closing left and right, and those that aren’t closing aren’t looking for any “new meat.” I love writing, really, I do. And I love the rush of being a journalist and uncovering some juicy story. But it’s just not worth it. I can’t do it.
But this leaves me in a strange predicament. I’m graduating in approximately three months. Then what? I’ll have a degree that I don’t plan on using and how in the world am I supposed to find a job? Even if I looked for something in media as a “hold-me over” until I figured everything out, I doubt that I’d be able to find anything. It’s f-ing scary. And on top of that, I don’t really have the time to sit around moping about my job situation and trying helplessly to find something because homework consumes my life. It’s like a never-ending circle.
If I could afford it, I’d fail a class just to have a semester buffer…
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