Journalists Interview Questions And Answers

Working as part of a team is common in many media jobs. It is important that you can get on and work quickly and efficiently with the other technical and creative production team staff. Time very literally is money in media production so there is no room for staff difficulties or temperament. When there are tough deadlines or late nights everyone must pull together to complete the task at hand. An employer will want to know that you can meet these demands and that you can establish a working relationship very quickly with people who you may be meeting for the first time.

You also need good written and oral communication skills and must have a crisp concise writing style - writing essays is not good evidence for this! They will expect you to have a good knowledge of current affairs and an inquisitive nature, and to be flexible - especially with regard to working hours. Many demands can be made on your time, so how experienced are you in putting in extra hours?

The key issue! It is a vicious circle that to be accepted as a journalist you need to already have some practical journalism skills and experience - usually be writing for the student newspaper, but community or free newspapers and magazines are equally acceptable. Occasionally graduates have got into journalism by arguing brilliantly why they have never participated in journalism before but this is rare!

Gather a portfolio of articles you have written. This may be no more than 6 to 8 articles you have had published. They shouldn't all be film reviews - you need to have some real news items too. One or two can date back to school, but it's important to have recent material - best of all commercial publications - they don't need to be front page stories.

"The Writers and Artists Yearbook" lists publications that will pay for copy and also tells you how to lay it out for submission. For Radio or TV, tapes of university or hospital radio broadcasts can help, but keep them short.

Here they may be looking at what papers you read and whether you know the differences between the major broadsheets. A common question for TV journalism is about the difference between BBC and ITN news coverage. Also, don't forget the Internet - this is now a major source of news and current affairs.

Before your interview try to make sure that you keep an eye on all the major news media and the different ways they cover the news - what type of stories do they priorities, do they have a political affiliation, who is their target audience, is there a particular style?

Consider the more popular forms of news availability in particular. How detailed are they in their coverage?

Be prepared for supplementary questions relating to any of the following:

* Who covers the news most accurately?
* Who covers the news most superficially
* What are people normally doing when they "get" the news?
* Which news story has been of particular interest to you lately?

Computing skills are becoming important in all jobs - rather like the skill of driving. If you can use a word-processor well then tell them - although some journalists type with two fingers, word-processing is a valuable skill in journalism - if you can't do it then learn! Start by word-processing your essays.

You could also mention if you have used a database, Microsoft Windows or email. They will almost certainly not be looking for specific skills, just a general familiarity and willingness to learn. Desktop publishing skills could be useful especially if you are aiming at sub-editing posts where a knowledge of layout, fonts and kerning will be useful - "Quark" is the industry standard DTP package.

The Internet is becoming increasingly important and you may be asked your views on how it is effecting the traditional journalistic media. Try to learn how to use it, so you can talk from a position of experience

When working with other people things do not always run smoothly. They may ask you what kinds of difficulties you have had with others and how you have overcome them.

You should be willing to discuss this frankly, because there are bound to be times when you will face these situations in the future. As a trainee journalist on a local newspaper, for example, you may be required to get stories from people or organizations who do not wish to co-operate. Your persistence, tact and resilience could all be examined in this situation and are all features which can be expressed when discussing this issue at interview.

Examples of problems you have coped with might include:

* Sorting out accommodation
* Divorce: your own or your parents'
* Financial difficulty
* A sudden change in circumstances
* Having to deliver bad news

Answer honestly! The actual example you choose is immaterial. They will be looking for enthusiasm and a real interest in the subject you choose - obviously pick a story that you know something about as you may get questioned about it.

A similar question is about who you would like to interview and what would you ask them.

Try and demonstrate in your answer:

* Your awareness of a big news story
* The need for accuracy in its reporting
* Elements which made it noteworthy
* What extra you might have brought to it
* Questions you would have asked
* An angle you might have taken

A Careers Adviser recently visited the main production site of a local television station. Upon asking about opportunities for work experience for students he was told there was every chance to arrange this. What any interested student should do was to contact the company direct and make a request, stating clearly the kind of experience desired and the times when available. The Careers Adviser verified this with the personnel department and was told that while this certainly was the appropriate procedure it would not by itself secure the hoped for work experience.

To cut a long story short any applicant would have to make numerous applications by letter for work experience. The student must convey a dogged, persistent, resolute intent to work for the company. You may not need to express quite this level of determination at interview, but by the actions you have already taken (perhaps in obtaining the interview in the first place) you need to show your determination to work in journalism

Questions like this are testing your general knowledge of current affairs. Similar questions might be along the lines of "Who is the Minister of the Environment?"

Make sure that you read a quality newspaper regularly. They won't be expecting you to take a particular line with these questions - almost any answer would be acceptable as long as it showed some understanding of the subject.

If you really don't know anything about the subject of the question, you are best to say this honestly and perhaps to then make some sound general points based on logic.

Sometimes the interviewer will take the opposite view to you. Here they are likely to be playing Devil's Advocate to see if you can stick to your guns and argue your case effectively!

Remember that two key traits of journalists are an inquisitive nature and the ability to ask the right questions so demonstrate these at interview! The best questions to ask are those that you really would like to know the answer to, rather than those you can find in books on interview skills. If you research the company well enough, you will find a number of questions naturally arising that you wish to be answered.

You should, though, concentrate on questions that show your interest in, and motivation to do, the job itself, rather than the rewards it will bring. So, for example, you should ask about training and career progression in preference to pay and pensions!

The U.S.S Maine is an example.

Journalism is the creativity and view of the journalist. It is writing for a newspaper or magazine, but it is the journalist opinion, view, and heart on the issue.

Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst

Electronic journalism uses electronic stuff (read computers).Print journalism uses ink (read newspapers).

Review is someone gives his or her opinion about something

Well they're used to keep personal thoughts that they are to nervous to share with others

News values simplified, determines how important a news story is to the media and the attention it is given by its consumers.

For the news lead, you should have the 5 W's & H (who, what when, where, why, and how). However, if it is for a feature lead then there are wide varieties. Magic Three, Descriptive, Anecdotal, Narrative, and Teaser are the main ones.

It affects by journalists can write what they want as long as it does not cross certain limits.

Web or Internet journalism helps one to read, hear, and view the news, all at the same time! Those who cannot access television, radio and newspapers, keep themselves updated, courtesy the electronic edition of newspapers. Yes, change is the only constant!

Web journalism entered India about ten years ago. Initially, it had to cope with the pressures posed by the post-liberalization era. The deteriorating plight of web journalism led one to question its very survival. However, some companies decided to stick it out, come rain or shine and availed, during the period 2000 - 2002, the services provided by the search engines like Google.

The web revolution started soon thereafter, with newspapers launching their Internet editions. Foreign majors like Yahoo, Google, and MSN also played the role of sheet anchor. These portals also recognized the importance of Hindi and other regional languages. The agreement between Yahoo and Jagran, to initiate a portal, could be an important milestone in the history as well as the future of e-journalism. It will also boost dissemination of news. The linguistic purity associated with web journalism is still a debated topic. It must always be kept in mind that news is read from a newspaper, heard over radio, and viewed on electronic media. However, with web journalism we can read, hear, and view news, all at the same time.

It was used by journalists Hearst and Pulitzer to sell more papers and at the same time stirred up war fever amongst the American public. They played on the emotions of Americans by publishing undocumented stories of atrocities in Cuba as well as telling the people that the USS Maine was in fact destroyed by the Spanish. To this day, there is no real proof as to whether or not the ship hit Spanish or some internal explosion sunk the ship.

London's Fleet Street

It means a journalist who writes about bright stuff and about hope

Check out the John Peter Zenger case instead because Tinker v Des Moines 1969 has to do with freedom of speech in school, not freedom of press.

The press played a tremendous part in leading the charge toward America's involvement in Cuba. Two publishers, William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, stood out among these opportunists. They perceived the conflict with Spain as their chance to increase circulation of their newspapers. Seizing upon the opportunity to capitalize on the growing spirit of American patriotism, Hearst and Pulitzer printed sensational anti-Spanish stories. Graphic illustrations commissioned from some of the country's most-talented artists and stories written by premiere authors and journalists of the day were fodder for fueling the flames of war. Together, Hearst and Pulitzer created frenzy among the American people by reporting the alleged brutality of the Spanish toward the Cuban rebels. (However, acts of outrage committed by the Cubans were seldom mentioned.) By the time the USS Maine exploded in Havana Harbor, the pro-war press had roused national sentiment to the point that President McKinley feared his political party would suffer if he did not engage in war with Spain.

Carlos P. Romulo in 1941