What should I research on journalisim?

Hi Emma! Hope you are well. :) I'm a journalist 19 years experienced in key global and regional press vehicles as well as in the corporate sector (communications/marketing in the tech industry). What I personally would love to research if I were a Journalism student today would be Journalism & Data. I think that try to go deeper on how the readers/audience behave and interact with information and media outlets (traditional and new ones, such as social networks) nowadays and all issues involved with this (privacy, fake news, digital democratization/globalization, etc) would be super interesting. Not to mention that the current decision makers and big names in Journalism/corporate communications normally don't have enough background on this subject, which makes this area extremely valuable. Hope it was useful! Good luck.

Hi Emma,

There are some excellent books available for your age group that tell the stories of people who had influence on journalism. Please check this link for a list that can get you started:

https://www.readbrightly.com/kids-books-about-journalism-reporters-press

Even Laura Ingalls Wilder, known for her Little House books, spent time as a journalist: https://www.amazon.com/Laura-Ingalls-Wilder-Farm-Journalist-ebook/dp/B00B3YJI8C)

Another way to examine journalism/sharing news is to view it through through the lens of historical events. From the Revolutionary War forward, there have always been people who are sharing “news” — whether Paul Revere’s legendary midnight ride (https://www.biography.com/news/paul-reveres-ride-facts — or Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin being the first humans to step on the moon. It was their observations and “first-hand reporting” from the moon’s surface that were key. From that starting point, you can also do some research on how the events were reported.

I will share with you what I share with many students here, and it’s key to being a good journalist: master the basics!! Things like spelling and grammar, research skills, geography, history, math, science — all of these, and a curiosity to know more about all of these and more — are a must! I cannot stress that enough. If you cannot tell the difference between there, their and they’re - or Australia and Austria on a map — you need to do more work! Becoming a master of the basics and building a love and curiosity about history and science and how things work will serve you well.

Good luck on your career project!