Not everyone who’s a journalist today practiced the course in college. Chances are your parents told you you’d never be a journalist without joining school of communications. The same happened with lawyers, you must practice law to be a lawyer.
Question is must you practise a course that leadeth to your dream career? Looking at Kenya today, so many modern careers are overtaking traditional ones. The more this gets to grow, more employers out here are giving more accreditation to talent, what you’re best in and not what you practiced.
Talking of journalism, comedians are the most celebrated people in the media, upcoming content creators are getting into the journalism world without the second thought if they have a journalism background . These are people who never hustled to get into media companies for their internships, people who don’t understand the pressure of a screen test for you to get an A in that television production unit.
Do you remember reporting to Law school? Anticipating to be the judge in a moot Court? Dreaming to be the best criminal lawyer in the next 5 to 6 years?
Mark you that is how the journalism student at her internship who’s spending an extra 6pm to 7pm just to get advanced skills into live reporting.
Thinking that spending that extra time would sooner or later be a chance for his or her employer to send him or her to a live press conference.
This is only for the employer to look into the content creators on Instagram or YouTube to give him the job. For it to get sadder, is that the same people will undergo training that a journalism student has gone through. Most of this time is because they’re under a tag of a celebrity.
Just a week ago, more than 100 experienced media personnel were among the collective layoff of the famous mediamax company. Years before, we’ve had the same happening to Royal media services firing the talented Kirigo Ngarua and TerryAnn Chebet. We’re never going to speak the emotional trauma that these will be going through. Having to know that you’re not going to receive any paycheque at the end of the month, that you have to fire two of your nannies, that you’ll have to move into a smaller house with your baby, you’re considering all the options of cost cutting .
In journalism, we’re taught that you don’t go into the field to make yourself popular, its the quality of information that accredits your competency.
If you look at the most famous radio radio stations. Their accreditation is considered competent when you employ a celebrity. It doesnt matter whether the person practiced journalism or not.
Its news when Foi Wambui is a tv presenter when she studied law, Mike Mondo is a radio presenter while he’s a nurse by profession. I’m not saying its a bad situation for someone to find a living in a career that he’s not trained in. But imagine someone finding purpose in a career you practiced while you yourself haven’t figured out anything. I’m not making it sad but you’re competent.
We’re told its hard to get into the media industry. We’re told you have to start from somewhere even if it means being the coffee guy as you get video production aspects while you’re at the edge of the chair because you’re sharing it with your fellow journalists whore on pay cheque already.
On internship, you’re told to go with a radio presenter into the production room only for you to watch him or her voice his script and edit. That’s like an hour or more.. Do you imagine standing there for an hour not being even able to ask questions because he or she is under pressure to produce a program on a deadline.
Thing is, this is emotional inflicting than telling us to be positive to get into the media world.
Annie Thoughts 