the first thing i know about journalism

I studied journalism for two years and I study it still at university and the whole experience over the past five years has been a…mixed bag.

The past five years, writing wise, have been some of the best and worst. I’ve progressed and bettered myself more than ever and I’ve made so many memories. The first interview I ever really did alone shook me because it was so bad, but taught me a lesson. One of my best interviews ended with myself and my interviewee both in tears because it got so emotional (this is a good thing). I’ve really opened up my mind and I’ve really started chasing my ambitions and what I want. The writer I am is nothing like the writer I was – who only wanted to write horror and book reviews. Now, I’d like to think the things I write about are a whole lot more diverse and varied.

So, over the past five years I’ve learned a lot about journalism. I kinda want to share some of these lessons.

The first thing I know about journalism: everything is a story

Everything is a story. Nearly everything, anyway.

A birth is a story, as is a death. Car accidents, the construction of new houses, the last weird thing Buzzfeed wrote about, the newest car that will be hitting the streets, this celebrity unfollowing that celebrity – these are all worth writing about. It may not seem so, in fact, a lot of those things may seem completely mundane and boring, but news is news.

Newspapers have to be filled as much as news websites do and when filling these sources takes so much, everything can be a story. Online, you can see this news outlet reporting that this celebrity followed this other one on social media, you can see stories about the chippie’s that Jihadists miss and you can an account of Katy Perry being escorted off a stage for kissing a bachelor’s hand too much. Literally, everything in the world can be news. The most mundane shit, the kind of stuff you can’t imagine anyone caring about.

I find this comforting, for lack of a better word. It feels kind of nice to know that even when I’m completely out of ideas and feeling utterly clueless, there will still be a story to tell.

Every book I read or movie I watch, every new restaurant I go to, every political development; these are all things to write about.

It’s just cool. The world really is endless.

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