By Derek Workman
To become a journalist, one must simply go out and do the thing. Take a pad of paper and something to write with go out and ask these questions – Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? These are the “Five W’s” and they are the foundation on which journalism is built. If you can get the answers to the questions and translate them in a clear manner to the audience – then you are well on your way to being a successful journalist.
This is harder than it sounds. Many people will give you false answers. Either because they don’t know them, or they are lying. It is part of your job detect untruthful to keep digging until you get the truth.
To be a good journalist one needs to always be questioning. To see stories where others may see nothing. You need to be patient – the best stories take time to develop. You need to have empathy for those you write about. You need to respect your readers. Give them the facts straight, as quickly and cleanly as possible, then let them make up their own minds. And always check and confirm your facts -talk to multiple sources, get different perspectives and use Google.
The cardinal sins of journalism are these:
- Do not bury the lead – tell your readers what the story is about within the first paragraph.
- Do not bore – a reader’s time is valuable, they are taking the time to read your work. So don’t punish them for it.
- Do not omit – this is the most grievous of the sins. It is your job to get and then report the facts – all the facts. If you leave out facts that may make someone look better or worse, if you omit on purpose in any way, you are a liar, untrustworthy, you have betrayed the trust of your readers and should never be allowed to publish another word.
The other things to remember are to “write with the door open” this means not assuming your readers know about the situation beforehand. Make sure you explain everything to them as if it was the first time they are hearing of it.
And lastly – read a lot but be careful what you read. Always try to read the best papers and magazines so you can learn. Now…go out and do the thing.
Derek Workman is Editor at the Kalahari Review…visit www.thekalaharireview.com.
