{"id":34333,"date":"2022-09-20T12:00:21","date_gmt":"2022-09-20T12:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/?post_type=career_profile&#038;p=34333"},"modified":"2024-07-12T17:37:44","modified_gmt":"2024-07-12T17:37:44","slug":"journalism","status":"publish","type":"career_profile","link":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/journalism\/","title":{"rendered":"Journalism"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"panel clearfix no-padding-bottom\">\n<p><strong>In a nutshell:<\/strong> For the right person, becoming a journalist could be very impactful. Good journalists help keep people informed, positively shape public discourse on important topics, and can provide a platform for people and ideas that the public might not otherwise hear about.<\/p>\n<p>But the most influential positions in the field are highly competitive, and journalists face a lot of mixed incentives that may detract from their ability to have a positive impact.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row padding-top bg-off-white\">\n<div class=\"col-sm-6\">\n<h4>Pros<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>The opportunity to spread important ideas to a large audience and shape public debate and opinion<\/li>\n<li>Developing a strong network, versatile skills, and an understanding of the media that significantly increase your career capital<\/li>\n<li>Involves creativity and learning about a variety of areas<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"col-sm-6\">\n<h4>Cons<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Competitive for most influential roles<\/li>\n<li>Shrinking industry in US, somewhat poor outlook<\/li>\n<li>Relatively low pay (and sometimes little job security)<\/li>\n<li>Fast pace with constant deadlines<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row padding-top padding-bottom bg-off-white\">\n<div class=\"col-sm-12\">\n<h4>Key facts on fit<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Ability to write engaging pieces for a large audience very quickly <\/li>\n<li>Comfort navigating an uncertain job market<\/li>\n<li>Willingness to work long hours and in a competitive environment<\/li>\n<li>A bachelor&#8217;s degree from a top university is useful but not required<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"border tw--rounded-md tw--mb-8\" >\n<div class=\"tw--bg-off-white tw--px-3.5 tw--py-5\">\n<h3 class=\"no-toc\"> Sometimes recommended \u2014 personal fit dependent<\/h3>\n<p>This career will be some people's highest-impact option if their personal fit is especially good.\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"tw--px-3.5 tw--py-5\">\n<h4 class=\"tw--text-base\">Review status<\/h4>\n<p>Based on a medium-depth investigation&nbsp;<i class=\n                  \"fas fa-question-circle text-primary icon-tooltip career-tooltip\" data-placement=\"right\"\n                  data-toggle=\"tooltip\" title=\n                  \"This review is informed by people with expertise about this path, an understanding of the best existing advice, and an in-depth investigation into at least one of our key uncertainties concerning this path. Some of our views will be thoroughly researched, though it&#039;s likely there remains some gaps in our understanding.\"><br \/>\n                  <\/i><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<div id=\"toc_container\" class=\"toc_white no_bullets\"><p class=\"toc_title\">Table of Contents<\/p><ul class=\"toc_list\"><li><a href=\"#why-journalism-could-be-a-high-impact-career\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">1<\/span> Why journalism could be a high-impact career<\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#how-many-people-are-actually-reading-news-articles\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">1.1<\/span> How many people are actually reading news articles?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#some-examples-of-high-impact-journalism\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">1.2<\/span> Some examples of high-impact journalism<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"#why-having-a-positive-impact-in-journalism-might-be-challenging\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">2<\/span> Why having a positive impact in journalism might be challenging<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#tips-for-picking-high-impact-stories\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">3<\/span> Tips for picking high-impact stories<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#how-to-pursue-a-career-in-journalism\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">4<\/span> How to pursue a career in journalism<\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#getting-started\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">4.1<\/span> Getting started<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#pay-and-industry-prospects\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">4.2<\/span> Pay and industry prospects<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#some-key-roles-in-journalism\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">4.3<\/span> Some key roles in journalism<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#how-to-pitch-your-first-piece\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">4.4<\/span> How to pitch your first piece<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#changing-paths\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">4.5<\/span> Changing paths<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#what-is-journalism-like-day-to-day\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">4.6<\/span> What is journalism like day to day?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"#how-to-assess-your-fit-for-journalism\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">5<\/span> How to assess your fit for journalism<\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#learn-more-about-journalism-careers\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">5.1<\/span> Learn more about journalism careers<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n<h2><span id=\"why-journalism-could-be-a-high-impact-career\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>Why journalism could be a high-impact career<\/h2>\n<p>Some of the most promising ways to have a positive impact with a career in journalism include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Encouraging the adoption of good policies or discouraging the adoption of bad policies\n<ul>\n<li>A single article or reporter is unlikely to be <em>solely<\/em> responsible for a given policy change, but they can play a significant role in influential coverage.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Acting as a check on bad or dangerous actors in the public arena\n<ul>\n<li>Public officials and figures can be forced out of their positions as a result of news reporting, and fear of exposure might have a chilling effect on bad acts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Inspiring readers to take specific high-impact actions, like <a href=\"\/articles\/best-charity\">making donations<\/a> or changing their careers to work on pressing problems<\/li>\n<li>Helping to <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/promoting-positive-values\">promote positive values<\/a>, such as respect for the interests of nonhuman animals<\/li>\n<li>Supporting social or political movements that are trying to do good &#8212; we&#8217;re especially excited about journalism that informs people about the ideas of the <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/promoting-effective-altruism\/\">effective altruism community<\/a>\n<ul>\n<li>Also, you can potentially <em>strengthen<\/em> ideas and communities you agree with by subjecting them to analysis and criticism.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Instilling better <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/improving-individual-reasoning-or-cognition\/\">reasoning skills<\/a> in readers &#8212; often by acting as a model &#8212; and keeping the public informed to promote good decision-making<\/li>\n<li>Positively shaping the discourse to better prioritise major problems and solutions, including introducing new topics for wider debate\n<ul>\n<li>Though note that sometimes drawing attention to an important topic can <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/articles\/accidental-harm\/\">backfire<\/a>. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We believe the most <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/\">neglected yet important problems<\/a> in the world are those that involve <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/articles\/future-generations\/\">existential risks or impact future generations<\/a>. So we&#8217;d be particularly excited to see journalists who could eventually help us make progress as a society toward preserving the potential for a bright and flourishing future by, for example, prioritising coverage of the threats from nuclear war, pandemic disease, artificial intelligence, climate change, and the possible decline of liberal democracy. We discuss some of the potential for this kind of impact in our review of <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/articles\/communication\/\">communications careers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the potential, though, much of journalism probably has minimal impact (and, as discussed below, some is actively <a href=\"\/journalism\/#harmful\">harmful<\/a>). Based on my experience in the industry, a lot of journalistic work is duplicative, and news outlets often compete in zero-sum contests to see whose story can rank the highest on Google search results. Even many prestigious outlets prioritise breaking news stories faster than their competitors, despite there being little to no benefit to the news consumer. For instance, journalists might race to be the first to report who a presidential candidate has picked to be their running mate, even though there&#8217;s actually little or no benefit to readers knowing this information a day or two before it&#8217;s officially announced.<\/p>\n<p>But the news industry as a whole tends to reward these priorities.<\/p>\n<p>If you plan to prioritise helping others, though, there is clearly the possibility of having a big influence &#8212; with the right role and the right content.<\/p>\n<div class=\"panel clearfix \">\n<h3><span id=\"how-many-people-are-actually-reading-news-articles\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>How many people are actually reading news articles?<\/h3>\n<p>This piece primarily focuses on the potential for impact in print and online news, though many of the points apply more broadly. As a reference point, <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/podcast\/episodes\/kelsey-piper-important-advocacy-in-journalism\/\"><em>Vox<\/em>&#8217;s Kelsey Piper<\/a> told us in 2019 that the median story she might write would get roughly between 15,000 and 20,000 readers. Getting 100,000 readers would constitute a very successful article. Some less popular articles may get as few as 2,000 views, she said \u2014 but even that lower amount can be worth it if the right person reads it. <em>(Note: Other outlets may have benchmarks that vary widely on either side \u2014 but these figures give an idea of the size of the audience you can reach at a publication like Vox.)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Some journalists do have considerable discretion in what they write about, though they often need to spend several years to get into this position.<\/p>\n<p>Journalists who work for <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Non-profit_journalism\">nonprofits<\/a> like <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/ProPublica\">ProPublica<\/a> can have more freedom to write about important issues due to the smaller role that market pressures play in these organisations. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/future-perfect\">Future Perfect<\/a>, a subsection of <em>Vox<\/em>, was launched with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation (though it now has separate <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013001810\/https:\/\/www.vox.com\/2020\/1\/7\/21020439\/support-future-perfect\">sources of funding<\/a>) to tell stories about big and neglected problems in the world.<\/p>\n<p>And even within for-profit journalism, there are many examples of journalists writing about important causes. <em>Vox<\/em> journalist Dylan Matthews, before founding Future Perfect in 2018, was already writing about topics like <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013001849\/https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/wonk\/wp\/2013\/01\/29\/five-things-economists-know-about-immigration\/?variant=d846d44221ecba95\">immigration policy<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013001904\/https:\/\/www.vox.com\/2014\/12\/22\/7434741\/holiday-giving-charity-donation\">effective giving<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>There have been more opportunities in recent years for journalists with an interest in <a href=\"\/articles\/effective-altruism\">effective altruism<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/articles\/future-generations\/\">longtermism<\/a>, and related topics. In addition to Future Perfect, outlets such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/future\">BBC Future<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worksinprogress.co\/\">Works in Progress<\/a>, and the newly founded <a href=\"https:\/\/asteriskmag.com\/\"><em>Asterisk<\/em> magazine<\/a> present exciting opportunities for writers who want to publish on these kinds of ideas. There may be even more opportunities like these in the coming years, given some funders&#8217; interests in impactful writing.<\/p>\n<p>But even if there are more opportunities like these, the specific area of journalism focused on the issues that we think are most pressing is likely to remain quite small in the broader media landscape. And if you&#8217;re successful in journalism, there might be greater opportunities for impact within traditional news outlets.<\/p>\n<p>One path we&#8217;d be particularly excited to see some readers take is to establish themselves as credible reporters in the areas of science and technology, especially because emerging technologies are related to many of the <a href=\"\/problem-profiles\">problems we think are most pressing<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>You don&#8217;t necessarily need technical expertise to excel in this way \u2014 and in fact, if you have technical skills related to some of the world&#8217;s most pressing problems, there are likely more promising career opportunities for you outside of journalism. But you&#8217;ll need to develop a sophisticated understanding of the field and a set of critical thinking skills to assess complicated claims and degrees of evidence. Otherwise, you may fall into the trap of perpetuating overly sensationalist and sometimes misleading science journalism, which some incentives in the industry encourage.<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"some-examples-of-high-impact-journalism\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>Some examples of high-impact journalism<\/h3>\n<p>One strong reason to believe journalism can be a high-impact career is that there seem to be many examples of journalism causing concrete benefits and harms for the world. By considering some examples, you can get a sense of how journalism can have an impact \u2014 and how it might go wrong.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A note of caution:<\/strong> It&#8217;s inevitably contentious to make historical claims of causation, so there&#8217;s likely no example on this list that is beyond dispute. Assessing the practical difference made by a single article or reporter, or even a group of stories, is difficult, and we have struggled to find systematic studies of the impact of journalism. (Please <a href=\"\/about\/contact-us\/\">let us know<\/a> if you have any!) It&#8217;s completely possible, for example, that positive effects that appear to be attributable to a given work of journalism would have come about regardless.<\/p>\n<p>But it still seems quite likely that journalism does often have an impact, and it&#8217;s worth examining some plausible cases, such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Zeynep Tufekci advocated for <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013002143\/https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/03\/17\/opinion\/coronavirus-face-masks.html\">mask-wearing in March 2020<\/a> to reduce the spread of COVID-19 by publishing an op-ed in <em>The New York Times<\/em> when public health experts argued the opposite.\n<ul>\n<li>Ben Smith later wrote for <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013002212\/https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/08\/23\/business\/media\/how-zeynep-tufekci-keeps-getting-the-big-things-right.html\">the same newspaper<\/a>: &#8220;The C.D.C. changed its tune in April, advising all Americans above the age of 2 to wear masks to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Michael Basso, a senior health scientist at the agency who had been pushing internally to recommend masks, told me Dr. Tufekci&#8217;s public criticism of the agency was the &#8216;tipping point.'&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>This seems like a very big deal. It&#8217;s unclear, though, how impactful Tufekci&#8217;s piece was. Was the CDC on a clear path to recommending masks regardless? Did she only speed up the trajectory by a few days or weeks? Though it&#8217;s also possible she was <em>more<\/em> influential than that &#8212; other health agencies in the world were very slow to adopt masking recommendations. And in general, it seems good to have incisive writers applying critical scrutiny to public health pronouncements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Coverage of <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013002410\/https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/07\/01\/upshot\/surprise-medical-bills-biden.html\">surprise medical bills<\/a> in the US appears to have led to a new law restricting providers&#8217; ability to catch patients off-guard after treatment with large, unexpected service charges.\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013002424\/https:\/\/centerforhealthjournalism.org\/2022\/01\/14\/good-journalism-helped-drive-change-surprise-bills-these-loopholes-law-deserve-more\">Trudy Lieberman<\/a>, a public health professor and a journalist, wrote for USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism: &#8220;In many ways, the law is also a victory for the media since it was their sustained coverage that spurred public outrage. In particular, I would say it was the product of a continued focus on surprise medical bills by Sarah Kliff, now at The New York Times but who started collecting such outrageous bills when she was at Vox, and Kaiser Health News and NPR, whose joint bill of the month series beginning in 2018 kept the focus on this insidious practice.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><em>538<\/em>&#8216;s Nate Silver argued in May 2017 that <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013002438\/https:\/\/fivethirtyeight.com\/features\/the-comey-letter-probably-cost-clinton-the-election\/\">the media coverage<\/a> around the FBI&#8217;s investigation of Hillary Clinton likely played a significant role in determining the outcome of the 2016 US presidential election.\n<ul>\n<li>Of course, any election is probably dramatically influenced by the media coverage of the relevant events and candidates. And no one person or even one outlet is wholly responsible for the general pattern of how an issue is covered. But this case does point to decisions made in the news media that plausibly contributed to an extremely significant course change in American politics.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Reporting on former <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013002725\/https:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2018\/07\/05\/pruitt-resigns-as-epa-chief-695291\">US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt&#8217;s<\/a> conduct in office, particularly his personal use of public funds, led to his resignation. He explicitly cited what he called the &#8220;unrelenting attacks&#8221; he faced in his resignation letter.\n<ul>\n<li>While the resignation was very plausibly an <em>effect<\/em> of the reporting on Pruitt&#8217;s scandals, one can question the <em>impact<\/em> of the reporting, because he was replaced by someone who was ideologically similar. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Elizabeth Warren, then a law professor, <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013002736\/https:\/\/democracyjournal.org\/magazine\/5\/unsafe-at-any-rate\/\">published a story<\/a> in the journal <em>Democracy<\/em> in 2007 arguing for the creation of a federal agency to regulate financial products.\n<ul>\n<li>In 2009, <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013002748\/https:\/\/www.politico.com\/blogs\/ben-smith\/2009\/03\/what-hes-reading-exploding-toaster-edition-016954\">then-President Barack Obama<\/a> referenced her arguments about the need for such protection.<\/li>\n<li>Obama later signed into law the Dodd\u2013Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which, in part, created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that Warren had envisioned.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013002807\/https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/10\/05\/us\/harvey-weinstein-harassment-allegations.html\">at <em>The New York Times<\/em><\/a>, as well as Ronan Farrow <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013002819\/https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/news-desk\/from-aggressive-overtures-to-sexual-assault-harvey-weinsteins-accusers-tell-their-stories\">at <em>The New Yorker<\/em><\/a>, published pieces in October 2017 surfacing allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse against Harvey Weinstein.\n<ul>\n<li>While this may have seemed at the time to be a narrow story about a single figure in the entertainment industry, it helped spur <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013002835\/https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2020\/03\/12\/weinstein-rape-sentence-us-boosts-metoo-movement\">a wider movement<\/a> that exposed patterns of sexual harassment and abuse in many different industries.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Anecdotally, we&#8217;ve heard of several policy advocates who&#8217;ve found the existence of highly accessible, mainstream coverage of issues they think are important to be very useful for showing policymakers what the issue is all about and why people might care.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Journalism might also have a more <em>diffuse<\/em> impact, though these effects will be even harder to directly measure and assess. For example, Naina Bajekal <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013003130\/https:\/\/time.com\/6204627\/effective-altruism-longtermism-william-macaskill-interview\/\">wrote a cover story for <em>TIME<\/em><\/a> in August 2022 about the effective altruism community, which likely introduced many people to a number of ideas that we think are important, and which could have a profound impact on what they choose to do in their lives (she even mentioned 80,000 Hours in the article!).<\/p>\n<p>A lot of important journalism might have its biggest impacts in this way &#8212; by influencing a large number of people in ways that are small at the individual level but add up to being a substantial impact on the world.<\/p>\n<p>And sometimes, the highest-impact decision a news outlet can make is <em>not<\/em> to publish a story. For instance, in 2006, Bill Keller, then an editor at <em>The New York Times<\/em>, revealed that <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013003143\/https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2006\/07\/01\/opinion\/01keller.html\">his paper had withheld stories<\/a> &#8220;that, if published, might have jeopardised efforts to protect vulnerable stockpiles of nuclear material.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"why-having-a-positive-impact-in-journalism-might-be-challenging\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>Why having a positive impact in journalism might be challenging<\/h2>\n<p>Because they rely on ad revenue or paid subscriptions, many news outlets are most motivated to maximise the engagement of their readers. This leads to a focus in a lot of the news media on dramatic current events and contentious hot-button issues. While some of this coverage is surely important, much of it is not, and a lot of it may be actively harmful.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"harmful\" class=\"link-anchor\"><\/a>Examples of generally harmful types of journalism include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hyper-partisan journalism<\/li>\n<li>Unnecessarily inflammatory coverage <\/li>\n<li>Misleading reporting or outright misinformation<\/li>\n<li>Journalism that promotes or embodies bad values, such as racist stereotyping<\/li>\n<li>Overly credulous reporting<\/li>\n<li>Reporting that distracts from more important issues<\/li>\n<li>Reporting that reveals information that is dangerous for the public to know (e.g. private personal information or national security secrets)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Unfortunately, even well-intentioned and thoughtful journalism may end up being <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/articles\/accidental-harm\/\">harmful<\/a>. Consider, for instance, the following possibilities:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The story draws attention to an important cause, but it creates more backlash than support.<\/li>\n<li>Policymakers react to address a problem highlighted in a story, but they overcorrect and create a new problem.<\/li>\n<li>Critical mistakes in the reporting spread falsehoods.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>One now-infamous and concrete example of harmful reporting is <em>The New York Times<\/em> 2002 story &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013003308\/https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2002\/09\/08\/world\/threats-responses-iraqis-us-says-hussein-intensifies-quest-for-bomb-parts.html\">US Says Hussein Intensifies Quest for A-Bomb Parts<\/a>,&#8221; about Iraq&#8217;s supposed effort to create weapons of mass destruction. This report, which relied heavily on anonymous sources in the Bush administration, was found to be based on <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013003330\/https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/erik-wemple\/wp\/2015\/04\/30\/jon-stewart-to-judith-miller-intel-community-was-feeding-you-on-iraq-wmd\/\">dubious claims<\/a>, and the idea that Saddam Hussein was building a nuclear weapon in the run-up to the 2003 invasion was <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013003340\/https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2019\/03\/22\/iraq-war-wmds-an-intelligence-failure-or-white-house-spin\/\">discredited<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Historian Daniel Strieff noted that many other media outlets played a role in pushing the narrative, but this story played an outsized role in pro-war rhetoric.<\/p>\n<p>For a more hypothetical example, consider that some people who are concerned about potential risks from <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/artificial-intelligence\/\">artificial intelligence<\/a> worry that coverage that focuses on the impressive capabilities of AI systems could help inspire an <a href=\"https:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1007\/s00146-019-00887-x\">arms race<\/a> in the technology, potentially increasing the dangers.<\/p>\n<p>In general, you might care a lot about avoiding harmful journalism. But once you have a job, you&#8217;ll likely face a lot of incentives that distort your priorities. You might work for an editor who assigns you stories, and you may have little say in what you get to write about or what the final product looks like. In many cases, journalists have complained that they <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013003607\/https:\/\/archive.thinkprogress.org\/why-writers-dont-write-headlines-558decd956d4\/\">have no say over misleading headlines<\/a> that top their articles \u2014 a particularly troubling situation, since many more people will see the headline than will read the content of the story.<\/p>\n<p>Even if you get more autonomy, you&#8217;ll be aware that keeping your job is often contingent on keeping readers engaged.<\/p>\n<p>And indeed, <em>having an impact<\/em> is often contingent on keeping readers engaged. A story that few people read is less likely, in most cases, to have much influence on the real world. So even in the ideal scenario, you&#8217;ll have to find a balance between writing stories that grab readers&#8217; attention and those that share important information. Sometimes doing so is easy \u2014 other times, it&#8217;s much harder. And navigating these mixed incentives may distort your assessment of what really matters in your work.<\/p>\n<p>Striking the balance between important writing and writing stories that people want to read is an extremely valuable skill, and if you think you&#8217;d be good at it, you should definitely consider becoming a journalist (or some other kind of <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/articles\/communication\/\">communicator<\/a>). But if you think you&#8217;d feel uncomfortable in this position, or find it too difficult to weigh up these competing priorities, it may be a challenging career path for you to pursue.<\/p>\n<p>It may be quite difficult on the whole to be confident you&#8217;re having a positive impact with a career as a journalist. But we also think the world would be better off for having more people in journalism who are motivated to work on the most pressing problems.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"tips-for-picking-high-impact-stories\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>Tips for picking high-impact stories<\/h2>\n<p>Two of the most critical types of decisions a journalist makes in their work are which story to write and what angle they write it from.<\/p>\n<p>The &#8216;angle&#8217; of a story refers to the specific focus, framing, and context the journalist uses to convey the facts they&#8217;re reporting. For example, a journalist writing about the launch of a new phone app could choose from a wide range of angles to focus on in the story, such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The technical breakthrough a developer achieved to create the app<\/li>\n<li>The positive experiences users are having with the app<\/li>\n<li>The negative experiences users are having with the app <\/li>\n<li>Externalities created by the app that impact third parties (such as if a delivery app creates a surge in downtown traffic)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In terms of the impact the reporting has, the angle a story takes can be at least as important as the topic the journalist is covering. This is especially true since the angle is likely to dictate the headline, and many more readers will ever read the headline than will actually read the body of any article.<\/p>\n<p>And this is one way in which journalists&#8217; discretion can be very influential, even as they aim to be impartial observers. Articles with each of the angles listed above about the hypothetical app could all include the same basic facts, just with different orderings, tone, and emphases, but the impression readers walk away with \u2014 whether the app is good or bad, brilliant or short-sighted \u2014 could be quite different based on the journalist&#8217;s choices.<\/p>\n<p>Depending on the role they have, their level of seniority, and the institution they work for, journalists will have widely varying degrees of discretion over the stories they cover and the angles they use to cover them. Typically, as you advance in seniority, you&#8217;ll have more discretion. Freelancers, though, have a lot of autonomy, but they may struggle to publish frequently, especially if they&#8217;re not willing to conform their story ideas to particular outlets&#8217; niches.<\/p>\n<p>Assuming you have some autonomy over the stories you write and how you write them, how can you pick a topic and angle to have a positive impact? The decision criteria will vary a lot, based on factors like what kind of audience you&#8217;re writing for and how frequently you&#8217;re expected to publish. (And of course journalists typically aim to write stories that their readers will find interesting, because if they can&#8217;t do this, they likely won&#8217;t have a job for very long.)<\/p>\n<p>But within these constraints, journalists aiming to have an impact could apply the <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/articles\/problem-framework\/\">ITN framework<\/a> to choosing stories. Under this framework, you would aim to write stories that are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Important<\/strong>: involve impact to the wellbeing of a significant number of individuals <\/li>\n<li><strong>Tractable<\/strong>: are about a problem that could potentially be solved or mitigated with more attention<\/li>\n<li><strong>Neglected<\/strong>: are getting insufficient attention relative to their importance and solvability<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These are very rough heuristics, and we don&#8217;t think they&#8217;ll apply to every story. Sometimes a journalist will cover a story just because it would seem like a huge omission to their audience if they ignored it \u2014 like a local news outlet failing to report a major celebrity came to town to shoot a movie.<\/p>\n<p>And it might be worth covering stories that don&#8217;t clearly meet all the ITN criteria. For example, a journalist might cover a deadly conflict in a war zone that, at least from all appearances, seems intractable to solve. Or reporters might find themselves, as many journalists did in April 2020, writing about a major story like the coronavirus pandemic, even though it was getting covered in every outlet, and it was hardly neglected. (It was arguably neglected as a story in early February 2020, though!)<\/p>\n<p>But even in these cases, it could be particularly impactful and advantageous for reporters to look for angles on the story that do more closely match the ITN framework.<\/p>\n<p>For example, while conflict in the war zone may be intractable, there may be solutions to certain problems within the conflict, such as a lack of medical supplies, that could be tractable if more attention were paid to them. Or if you&#8217;re covering a pandemic that is already widely talked about in the news, you might be able to apply the framework by avoiding discussion of the day-to-day controversies and instead drawing attention to policies that would reduce the longer-term risk of similar pandemics arising.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"how-to-pursue-a-career-in-journalism\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>How to pursue a career in journalism<\/h2>\n<h3><span id=\"getting-started\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>Getting started<\/h3>\n<p>Many journalists in print or online media start off as <strong>interns<\/strong> or <strong>entry-level reporters<\/strong>. It typically helps to have a bachelor&#8217;s degree, though it doesn&#8217;t need to be in journalism \u2014 and you may be fine without one if you demonstrate an ability to get published or bring a highly valuable knowledge base.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re just starting your career out of university or college, experience at a student newspaper can be valuable for getting your foot in the door.<\/p>\n<p>For certain roles, such as legal or financial reporting, employers often seek job candidates with some level of subject matter expertise.<\/p>\n<p>Master&#8217;s degrees in journalism are rarely if ever required, and getting them can be extremely costly \u2014 it&#8217;s probably better to learn on the job. This is especially true because many jobs in journalism aren&#8217;t particularly high-paying &#8212; so having a lot of student debt might be a big problem.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"pay\" class=\"link-anchor\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"panel clearfix \">\n<h3><span id=\"pay-and-industry-prospects\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>Pay and industry prospects<\/h3>\n<p>The median American journalist made $48,370 a year in 2021, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013003729\/https:\/\/www.bls.gov\/ooh\/media-and-communication\/reporters-correspondents-and-broadcast-news-analysts.htm\">US Bureau of Labor Statistics<\/a>. In that year, there were an estimated 47,100 people employed in these jobs, and the Bureau expects the industry to shrink by 9% by 2031. Still, it also estimated that there will be an average of 4,900 job openings for news analysts, journalists, and reporters each year for the rest of the decade.<\/p>\n<p>Some data suggests that in the UK, the prospects for the news industry look comparatively brighter. In 2020, there were an <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013003800\/https:\/\/pressgazette.co.uk\/uk-journalism-jobs-data-pay-skills-vacancies\/\">estimated 96,000 journalists<\/a> in the country, according to the media trade magazine <em>Press Gazette<\/em>. That&#8217;s more than double the amount in the US, despite having roughly one-fifth of the total population; however, this fact also makes us doubt the figures in each country are calculated using comparable methodologies.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, the trendlines for employment are particularly encouraging in the UK. The industry has grown rapidly in recent years, up from around 78,000 reportedly employed in journalism in 2018. <em>Press Gazette<\/em> also calculated that the average salary posted for UK journalism job listings on Indeed was \u00a335,244.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>If you&#8217;re not looking for an entry-level position or internship, and you don&#8217;t have any publishing experience, it makes sense to start by writing articles part-time to build up a personal library of content you can link to on a personal blog (<a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/\">Medium<\/a> is quick and easy to set up) or <a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/inbox\">Substack<\/a>. Substack can allow you to charge your readers for access to your posts, but that&#8217;s probably only a viable business strategy after you&#8217;ve already developed a large audience.<\/p>\n<p>Once you&#8217;ve gotten in the habit of blogging, try getting pieces published in existing media outlets. Your first instinct may be to go for well-known names like <em>The Guardian<\/em> or <em>Vox<\/em>, or even more prestigious newspapers, but you&#8217;ll likely have an easier time publishing at smaller outlets or local publications. You&#8217;ll be able to use your blog posts as writing samples.<\/p>\n<p>Some writers even get noticed for having a strong Twitter presence. It&#8217;s not unheard of to have a story solicited based only on your tweets. If you&#8217;re able to impress people in the news industry with thoughtful and insightful posts on social media, you may have a leg up on those who avoid Twitter. (But be warned: there are many risks to spending too much time on Twitter, and careers can be ruined at least as easily as they can be started by a tweet. So post carefully.)<\/p>\n<p>Getting your first piece published is often the hardest step. If you do a good job, it will be much easier to publish with that same publication and editor in the future. Having been published by a mainstream outlet will make your future pitches much more likely to succeed, or at least be seriously considered, and you may be able to use your published work to get a full-time job.<\/p>\n<p>Newer journalists typically don&#8217;t get to choose what they cover, particularly at large organisations, and are instead assigned stories by editors. However, even new journalists can sometimes earn more autonomy if they become successful at pitching stories that they want to write to their editor.<\/p>\n<p>This is most likely to happen if you successfully carve out a &#8220;beat&#8221; for yourself \u2014 a specialty subject that you&#8217;re deeply familiar with. Once an editor trusts that you know the area well, they may come to rely on you to shape the course of your outlet&#8217;s reporting on the topic. You&#8217;ll likely still be subject to the same incentives that drive the rest of the media, but you&#8217;ll have more discretion in deciding how to navigate competing demands.<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"some-key-roles-in-journalism\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>Some key roles in journalism<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Investigative reporters<\/strong> are highly prestigious, and there are many cases in history of them having a positive impact. But it may be difficult to optimise for impact in these roles, because the goal of investigative reporters is to uncover exciting and newsworthy facts \u2014 which isn&#8217;t necessarily correlated with having a positive impact. (Though one potentially underexplored route to impact would be an investigative journalist who specialises in scrutinising charities.)<\/p>\n<p>When journalists establish themselves in the industry, they sometimes progress to roles in which they have more freedom to choose what topics they write about, as well as add opinion, perspective, and more complex analysis. These include <strong>columnists<\/strong>, who write opinion pieces, and <strong>correspondents<\/strong>, who cover various locations distant from their main workplace (e.g. the White House) while adding their perspective on the news.<\/p>\n<p>Opinion columnists may have the most latitude of anyone to pursue whatever stories they think are important, and we&#8217;d be excited to see more people interested in effective altruism take these roles at prestigious media outlets. However, precisely because these roles are so valuable and influential, they&#8217;re among the most competitive positions in the industry.<\/p>\n<p>Senior roles are usually as <strong>editors or producers<\/strong>, who coordinate the work of other journalists. These too might be among the most impactful roles in journalism, because they can shape the coverage of a much wider range of stories. But even editors, producers, and publishers are subject to the financial incentives of the news business (unless they are philanthropically funded), so they&#8217;re not typically free to focus <em>completely<\/em> on having a positive impact.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Freelance journalists<\/strong> aren&#8217;t employed full-time by a news outlet but instead get paid a set amount for each article or column that an editor agrees to publish. Sometimes they have arrangements with outlets to contribute a certain number of stories or columns on a regular basis.<\/p>\n<p>Usually, freelancers submit story pitches to editors, who will decide whether they want to pay for the story. In theory, anyone can submit a pitch and get something published \u2014 but editors are most likely to accept submissions from experienced writers, experts, or people with unique experiences. Sometimes editors will reach out to an established journalist or writer to solicit a story that hasn&#8217;t been pitched.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s difficult to make a living as a full-time freelance journalist. But freelance writing can be a productive way to start out a journalism career, and it may be financially sustainable when supplemented with income from other sources.<\/p>\n<p>Training for Good has launched the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tarbellfellowship.org\/faq\">Tarbell Fellowship<\/a>, which provides financial support to early-career journalists who are looking to have a positive impact. There may be other opportunities for funding from philanthropists who are eager to support this kind of writing.<\/p>\n<div class=\"panel clearfix \">\n<h3><span id=\"how-to-pitch-your-first-piece\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>How to pitch your first piece<\/h3>\n<p>We asked <a href=\"https:\/\/www.garrisonlovely.com\/\">Garrison Lovely<\/a>, a freelance journalist, how he&#8217;d recommend pitching to publications. He said:<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. Use pitch guides.<\/strong> Many publications have guides that explain what they&#8217;re looking for and how they want the pitch formatted. Generally, you can Google &#8220;how to pitch [publication name].&#8221; Pay attention to the format they ask for \u2014 publications may reject an otherwise good pitch just because you didn&#8217;t follow directions.<br \/>\n<strong>2. Aim low at first.<\/strong> Start by pitching smaller, less well-known outlets before trying <em>The New York Times<\/em>. Some well-known outlets publish a lot (e.g. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.co.uk\/\"><em>HuffPost<\/em><\/a>) and may be easier to get published in than less well-known outlets that publish less frequently (e.g. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nplusonemag.com\/\"><em>N+1<\/em><\/a>). Big publications often don&#8217;t want to take risks on someone unproven, especially when it comes to reported pieces and features.<br \/>\n<strong>3. Think about what you bring to the table.<\/strong> If you have some unique and interesting perspective on the world, try to use that for your first pitch.<br \/>\n<strong>4. Be timely if possible<\/strong> \u2014 i.e. at least reference current events. This applies most to op-eds. Some pieces, like print magazine features, are more likely to be &#8216;evergreen,&#8217; though these are harder for first-time writers to get than shorter articles or op-eds.<br \/>\n<strong>5. Get to know other journalists and editors.<\/strong> Relationships drive a lot of decision making. Personally knowing an editor won&#8217;t guarantee you will get published, but it will make it much more likely your pitches will be seriously considered.<br \/>\n<strong>6. Don&#8217;t write full drafts.<\/strong> It&#8217;s rare that editors will want a full draft as a first pitch (again, check the pitch guide). They often want to weigh in on the direction of the piece before you write the whole thing, so writing full drafts wastes your time <em>and<\/em> makes you less likely to succeed.<br \/>\n<strong>7. Don&#8217;t worry about your first piece having a big positive impact.<\/strong> When you&#8217;re first starting out, it&#8217;s more important that you get publications under your belt than to make sure that each piece is optimised for helping make the world better. As with many other careers, you&#8217;ll have most of your impact later on, once you&#8217;ve built up <a href=\"\/articles\/career-capital\/\">career capital<\/a> &#8212; credibility and a track record with publishers.<br \/>\n<strong>8. Don&#8217;t get discouraged.<\/strong> Publications typically reject the vast majority of pitches that they receive (they often don&#8217;t even reply). Unsurprisingly, the more prestigious the publication, the less likely you are to be accepted. Don&#8217;t be discouraged by this. Plenty of very successful journalists were rejected dozens of times before having a breakthrough piece.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3><span id=\"changing-paths\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>Changing paths<\/h3>\n<p>One of the benefits of journalism is that you can explore it as a career option without investing in an advanced degree, which makes it easier to keep your options open while testing your fit. If you have a clear idea of how you want to have an impact as a journalist, and you have an aptitude for it, it may well be worth trying your hand at it for a few years.<\/p>\n<p>(A caveat to this point, however, is that you should expect anything you publish will be accessible forever. Publicly taking controversial stances on hot-button issues may limit some of your career options down the road.)<\/p>\n<p>You can try freelancing as a side gig and see how it goes, or if you&#8217;re early in your career, you may just try getting an entry-level job in the industry. If, after a few years, you find it&#8217;s not working out as you hoped, you should still have other options open to you. For example, roles in <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/articles\/communication\/\">communications<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/academic-research\/\">research<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/articles\/government-policy\/\">policy<\/a>, and advocacy can make good use of skills developed in journalism.<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"what-is-journalism-like-day-to-day\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>What is journalism like day to day?<\/h3>\n<p>The day-to-day activities of journalists vary by industry, role, and level of seniority, but almost all journalist jobs involve researching stories and interviewing people, preparing content for publication, and staying up to date with the area they cover.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s how Kelsey Piper of Future Perfect described her typical day when she <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/podcast\/episodes\/kelsey-piper-important-advocacy-in-journalism\/#downsides-and-upsides-of-the-job\">spoke with us<\/a> in 2019:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"quotemarks--long\"><p>\n      Vox has a very fast pace, which was definitely something I was a little apprehensive about going in. Like can I write that much? But it&#8217;s been very good for me because I think the push to think about something you want to tell people every day just keeps you moving. On most days I will try and send my editor about three story ideas. Things that I&#8217;ve thought of that I want to write about, things that I have a lead on, things that I saw in the news that I felt like we needed a Future Perfect take on. My editor will get back to me with the one or two that he&#8217;s most excited about and say, Yeah, go ahead and write this story.<\/p>\n<p>So, then I&#8217;ll email people who I want to talk to. I&#8217;ll try and get introductions. I&#8217;ll research for the piece. I&#8217;ll have those conversations and phone calls. I&#8217;ll try and write the piece. I&#8217;ll try and file it before I go home. Then often at the same time, my editor and I will be going back and forth with edits on yesterday&#8217;s story to get it to a state where we&#8217;re both proud of it and confident of it and ready to put it on the site.<\/p>\n<p>Now, in practice, some pieces take longer to come together. Or they come partway together and then we realise there&#8217;s not a good story here. Or the situation is confusing enough that our initial take on it didn&#8217;t work. A fair number of stories get scrapped. In practice, I think I end up publishing four things a week. But yeah, the goal is certainly to have a week where every day we put out a new story.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>She also added:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"quotemarks--long\"><p>\n      It&#8217;s amazing to call people up and just ask about their research or ask about what they&#8217;re doing. I feel like I&#8217;ve learned a ton about lots of fields, just by having the luxury of spending a day talking to five experts. Then doing a lot of reading and trying to put together an accurate, if limited, picture of something I didn&#8217;t know much about before.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2><span id=\"how-to-assess-your-fit-for-journalism\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>How to assess your fit for journalism<\/h2>\n<p>To assess if this path might be a good fit for you, consider these questions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Are you a fast writer? One of the most distinctive things about journalism jobs is they tend to have very rapid deadlines following current events and a very regular publication schedule.<\/li>\n<li>Are you an excellent communicator? The key skill you need to have is writing stories that get a big audience &#8212; and\/or good speaking skills for working in podcasts, radio, or television &#8212; plus comfort with interviewing people.<\/li>\n<li>Do you have experience working for a college newspaper or an internship, or a portfolio of published work? If you do have journalism experience, did you enjoy it?<\/li>\n<li>Are you willing to work long hours, including nights and weekends? This is common in journalism careers, though some positions offer reasonable hours. <\/li>\n<li>How important is a high salary to you? It&#8217;s hard to get paid work early on, and even after you get a full-time paid position, the <a href=\"#pay\">average salary for a journalist<\/a> is relatively low. <\/li>\n<li>Have you written a blog? Do you find it relatively easy to produce large amounts of content? <\/li>\n<li>Do you get good feedback on your content?\n<ul>\n<li>Don&#8217;t forget that most public communicators have honed their craft for years, often long before they were famous.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 class=\"no-toc\">Want one-on-one advice on pursuing this path?<\/h3>\n<p>If you think this path might be a great option for you, but you need help deciding or thinking about what to do next, our team might be able to help.<\/p>\n<p>We can help you compare options, make connections, and possibly even help you find jobs or funding opportunities.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/speak-with-us\/?int_campaign=career-review-generic\" title=\"\" class=\"btn btn-primary\">APPLY TO SPEAK WITH OUR TEAM<\/a><\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"learn-more-about-journalism-careers\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>Learn more about journalism careers<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Historian Daniel Strieff has compiled <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013004001\/https:\/\/gijn.org\/2020\/01\/02\/the-15-most-influential-journalism-stories-in-us-history\/\">a list of more than 20 highly influential pieces of journalism<\/a> in US history <\/li>\n<li>Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/podcast\/episodes\/ezra-klein-journalism-most-important-topics\/\">Ezra Klein on covering the most important topics in journalism<\/a> (or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fh4KW5ZKjCg\">watch on our YouTube channel<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/podcast\/episodes\/kelsey-piper-important-advocacy-in-journalism\/\">Kelsey Piper on what this kind of journalism is like day to day<\/a> <\/li>\n<li>Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/podcast\/episodes\/annie-jacobsen-nuclear-catastrophe-escalation\/\">Annie Jacobsen on what would happen if North Korea launched a nuclear weapon at the US<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/podcast\/episodes\/alison-young-biosafety-lab-leaks\/\">Alison Young on how top labs have jeopardised public health with repeated biosafety failures<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/podcast\/episodes\/matthew-yglesias-pundits-fallacy-military-intervention\/\">Matthew Yglesias on avoiding the pundit&#8217;s fallacy and how much military intervention can be used for good<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/2015\/09\/what-do-journalists-say-about-journalism-as-a-high-impact-career-interviews-with-dylan-matthews-derek-thompson-and-shaun-raviv\/\">What do journalists say about journalism as a high-impact career?<\/a> &#8212; interviews with Dylan Matthews, Derek Thompson, and Shaun Raviv<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"tw--mt-6 tw--p-3 tw--pt-2 tw--bg-gray-lighter tw--rounded-md \">\n<h3 class=\"no-toc\">\t\t<a class=\"no-visited-styling tw--text-off-black hover:tw--text-off-black hover:tw--no-underline focus:tw--text-off-black\" href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/\">\t\t\t<small>Read next:&nbsp;<\/small>\t\t\tLearn about other high-impact careers\t\t<\/a>\t<\/h3>\n<div class=\"tw--grid xs:tw--grid-flow-col tw--gap-3\">\n<div class=\"xs:tw--order-last tw--pt-1\">\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/\">\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/HomepageB-3-720x448.jpg\" alt=\"Decorative post preview\" width=\"720\" height=\"448\">\t\t\t<\/a>\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"\">\n<div class=\"tw--pb-3\">\n<p>Want to consider more paths? See our list of the highest-impact career paths according to our research.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"\">\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/\" class=\"btn btn-primary\">Continue &rarr;<\/a>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"well visible-if-not-newsletter-subscriber margin-bottom margin-top padding-top-small padding-bottom-small\">\n<h3 class=\"no-toc\">Plus, join our newsletter and we&#8217;ll mail you a free book<\/h3>\n<p>Join our newsletter and we&#8217;ll send you a free copy of <em>The Precipice<\/em> \u2014 a book by philosopher Toby Ord about how to tackle the greatest threats facing humanity. <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/free-book\/#giveaway-terms\">T&#038;Cs here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<form data-80k-object-id=\"\" data-80k-form-action=\"newsletter__subscribe\" action=\"\/\" method=\"post\" class=\"form-newsletter-signup form-newsletter-signup-step-1 margin-bottom-smaller\">\n<div class=\"mc-field-group input-group compact-input-group \"> <input type=\"email\" value=\"\" name=\"email\" required class=\"form-control email\" placeholder=\"Email address\" id=\"input_email\"> <span class=\"submit input-group-btn input-group-btn-right\"> <input type=\"submit\" id=\"mc-embedded-subscribe\" value=\"GET THE BOOK\" class=\"btn btn-primary \" \/> <\/span> <\/div>\n<div> <input name=\"_eightyk_action\" value=\"mailchimp_add_subscriber\" type=\"hidden\"> <input name=\"redirect_path_after_step_2\" value=\"\/newsletter\/welcome\/\" type=\"hidden\"> <\/div>\n<div style=\"position: absolute; left: -5000px;\"> <input type=\"text\" name=\"b_abc12f58bbe8075560abdc5b7_43bc1ae55c\" tabindex=\"-1\" value=\"\"> <\/div>\n<\/form>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>Special thanks to Roman Duda and Arden Koehler for their contributions to this article.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":435,"featured_media":75308,"parent":0,"menu_order":15,"template":"template-standard-article.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"[fn 1] For example, former [New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman](https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013004104\/https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/05\/07\/nyregion\/new-york-attorney-general-eric-schneiderman-abuse.html) resigned hours after news broke that multiple women accused him of sexual assault.[\/fn]\r\n\r\n[fn 2]For example, several years ago, advocates hoping to increase support for permissive immigration policies publicly defended the philosophical and practical case for [open borders](https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013004119\/https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/business\/archive\/2015\/10\/get-rid-borders-completely\/409501\/) in the press. While it's hard to say confidently what the effect of this advocacy was, the term \"open borders\" is now commonly used in the press as a derogatory term by anti-immigration critics, suggesting the advocates may have created more backlash than support for their cause. [\/fn]\r\n\r\n[fn 3] We did find a white paper funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation analysing the [impact of ProPublica](https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20220901041004\/http:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/propublica\/assets\/about\/LFA_ProPublica-white-paper_2.1.pdf). [\/fn]\r\n\r\n[fn 4] Working journalists should consider pushing back against this practice. If you're diligent about reporting on the facts of a story and getting them right, you should be equally insistent that the headline accurately reflects the article. Some editors may resist this feedback, but with enough pressure from working journalists and with the ongoing transition from space-constrained printed newspapers to space-unconstrained digital publication, the industry standards may shift for the better.[\/fn]\r\n\r\n[fn 5]\"But this story, which was later cited by Condoleezza Rice, Dick Cheney, and Colin Powell, ended up playing a critical role in the Bush administration's justification to launch the war,\" he [wrote](https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013004001\/https:\/\/gijn.org\/2020\/01\/02\/the-15-most-influential-journalism-stories-in-us-history\/). \"This represents perhaps the greatest geopolitical blunder of the young 21st century and, subsequently, has caused a massive humanitarian crisis and hundreds of thousands, if not millions, have died as a direct and indirect result of the invasion and its aftermath.\"[\/fn]\r\n\r\n[fn 6] Journalism school will teach you a lot about the nuts and bolts of how news reporting gets done, which you will otherwise have to learn on the job. But there's likely to be a steep learning curve in your first job regardless. If studying journalism would be highly motivating to you to complete your degree, that may be reason enough to do it.\r\n\r\nBut you might also benefit from the factual knowledge and skills learned in other disciplines, such as history, political science, or philosophy, and this training may give you an edge over some of your competition. Without a journalism degree, though, you may have to do a bit more work to establish your interest in journalism before you get hired for your first full-time job, by, for instance, publishing op-eds.[\/fn]\r\n\r\n[fn 7] For example, the reporting around the [Watergate scandal](https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013004408\/https:\/\/hls.harvard.edu\/today\/watergate-era-reforms-50-years-later\/) and the subsequent investigations led to a number of good government reforms in the US. Upton Sinclair's book [*The Jungle*](https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013004416\/https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/projects\/cp\/obituaries\/archives\/upton-sinclair-meat-industry) inspired reforms in the meatpacking industry. And *The Boston Globe*'s reporting on [sexual abuse in the Catholic Church](https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221013004437\/https:\/\/www.bostonglobe.com\/metro\/2015\/11\/20\/journalists-who-broke-church-sex-abuse-scandal-could-not-have-foreseen-impact\/iIMZJD8RfLZXxKBVqh8h4K\/story.html) forced officials who had covered up the crimes out of their positions and led to a much wider reckoning.[\/fn]\r\n\r\n[fn 8] \"The work is often fast paced, with constant demands to meet deadlines and to be the first reporter to publish a news story on a subject. Reporters may need to work long hours or change their work schedule in order to follow breaking news. Because news can happen at any time of the day, journalists may need to work nights and weekends.\" [Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2014-15 Edition, Reporters, Correspondents, and Broadcast News Analysts](http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20150619151013\/http:\/\/www.bls.gov\/ooh\/media-and-communication\/reporters-correspondents-and-broadcast-news-analysts.htm) [\/fn]"},"categories":[450,300,342,1288,1236,508],"class_list":["post-34333","career_profile","type-career_profile","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advocacy","category-building-effective-altruism","category-careers","category-communication","category-false-ideas-on-social-media","category-journalism"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Journalism - Career review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For the right person, becoming a journalist could be very impactful.But the most influential positions in the field are highly competitive...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/journalism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The pros and cons of trying to become a journalist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Journalism offers the opportunity to spread important information to a wide audience, whilst building a strong and broad network. 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