Journalists are like Doctors
By Lynn Walsh | Friday, April 15th, 2011By: Jacqueline Ingles
The best advice from my college journalism professor was to always remember journalists are like doctors, people choose to specialize in different things. For example, an ER doctor loves the rush and being under the gun and I think a reporter who strives for breaking news is pretty comparable. But for some of us, we want to do it all, like a general medicine doctor, that is why we have general assignment reporters.
Last week, a fellow Medill graduate in my class, James Foley, was taken prisoner in Libya. He was reporting there for his newspaper when his van was shot at and he was taken prisoner by armed men.
James is still being held prisoner as his family awaits word if he is safe, etc. Stories like this typically make headlines and the entire world gasps that “an American journalist” would be taken prisoner.
I believe a free press is necessary and journalists do play an important role in our society. However, I know that James wanted to do international reporting and that job comes with inherent risk.
Did James think he would be taken prisoner? Probably not. Did he likely know the possibility existed? You bet.
I am praying for James to return safe, but I think there is a great lesson in his story: know what you are signing up for.
Niche journalism has definitely arrived in the field and it is here to stay. Some people are great food writers, movie reviewers and then we have journalists who thrive on politics and love sitting through House sessions. For me, that is like watching paint dry. On the other hand, if there is crime scene tape, blood spatter and a body, I want to be the first on the scene in the thick of it all. I have a few friends who even got out of the business because they couldn’t do crime.
The likelihood when you start off reporting is that you will be a general assignment reporter and cover it all. Then, some people naturally find their fit as an investigative journalist, a political reporter, consumer reporter, etc.
I think before someone specializes in a niche they really need to ask themselves a few questions. For example, if you are thinking you want to cover the military and wars, you might ask yourself:
1) Would you be willing to be an embedded reporter and travel to Iraq or Afghanistan?
2) Do you want to spend time on military bases and likely be interviewing generals, strategists, etc?
3) Did you know that there are handbooks on military titles and how people should be supered in broadcast work and how to abbreviate for print?
4) Are you willing to travel far?
5) Are you willing to learn about international affairs?
6) Are you willing to deal with the red tape that goes along with getting access to bases and officials?
7) Would you be willing to live overseas and/or be away from home for long periods of time?
Every person needs to use critical thinking skills before committing to a certain job. I cannot speak for James Foley, but I have no doubt the dangers of heading to Libya crossed his mind before he got aboard a plane there. The obvious thing to keep in mind is to never do anything you are not comfortable doing.
Jacqueline Ingles is a multi-platform reporter for KXAN-TV in Austin, Texas. She writes, shoots, edits, fronts her story and then provides a more in-depth story version on her station’s web site daily. She founded the blog “In Ingles Please” in early 2010. A native of Chicago, Jacqueline received a master’s in broadcast journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She also graduated Summa Cum Laude from Loyola University-Chicago