Is journalism a good career path?

Hey!
I'm in pretty much the same position as you and am considering studying journalism at university (when I get there, hopefully) I would recommend that you focused on one particular 'branch' of journalism to make your knowledge of the field more specific. For example, I would like to study fashion journalism as there is lots that I can relate to BUT there are other pathways like sport journalism, science journalism etc

I think it's the sort of industry where it takes lots of experience to reach the top, but when you do it will be an amazing job!

*I understand that people think the pay is bad but with an undergraduate degree in fashion journalism I've found that in a print/online magazine company like Conde Nast starting salaries would be £35,000 working up to much higher positions/pay

Thanks, that's really helpful. x

*I understand that people think the pay is bad but with an undergraduate degree in fashion journalism I've found that in a print/online magazine company like Conde Nast starting salaries would be £35,000 working up to much higher positions/pay

I am currently studying at secondary school, so I have a long time to think about what I want to do after university. However, we are encouraged to think about these things. I have recently researched journalism, and it sounds like it would suit me. Is journalism a good career path? If so, why? Thank you x

I am currently studying at secondary school, so I have a long time to think about what I want to do after university. However, we are encouraged to think about these things. I have recently researched journalism, and it sounds like it would suit me. Is journalism a good career path? If so, why? Thank you x

This is probably true but it's important to ask how competitive positions like that are. If only one in a hundred aspirant journalists get a decent contract then clearly that's something to take on board.

One of my friends is trying to be a journalist. She has a first from an English degree at Oxford, recently completed a journalism masters, was co-editor of a student newspaper, and has had internships in several major national publications including newspapers. She has applied for every job she is qualified for, sent speculative letters out, and still not found anything. The feedback is positive but ultimately she is becoming increasingly discouraging. She's stuck living with her parents, mostly publishing on online sites where they don't pay for content, and close to giving up journalism in favour of a day-job that allows her to write in her free time.

Now of course, she might just be unlucky or simply not that good a writer. But I would urge you to really think if you have what it takes and to have some sort of plan for the first stages of your career which often seem to involve taking long unpaid internships to get the experience necessary to stand you in any sort of chance of getting paid work.

I don't mean to discourage your ambitions but in my opinion it's one of those careers that's at least worth having a back-up option in mind.