WRITING FOR THE PRESS

File:A reporter keying in a story before submitting to the sub-editor.

WRITING IS A CHALLENGING TASK

If you thought careers like medicine, law and the like are the most elusive careers I better tell you, you are far from the point!
Such careers, you can name them, are much demanding only in universities and colleges but the practical part of it in the field is easier and there is much of fun and enjoyment.
Have you ever thought of a career which is almost the easiest to be pursued in campus, but the most difficult to be put into its practical shape in the real world or the field? think no more! Here is the answer, journalism.
Holding the camera and shoving the microphone into someone's mouth to comment on a certain topic may look easy and entertaining, but much will still take place in the background.Cutting a three hour interview and making it news to be presented within one minute is not an easy task.One is required to go to the field to look for a story which must appear in next day paper and the story must be in sub-editor's desk not later than 3pm everyday in order to undergo thorough editing before it is taken to printing department.
The above mentioned task may look easy to an extend, but have you noticed that to write a piece of information is tantamount to swimming upstream? If you have never realized that, then you must be an extra-ordinary individual and journalism needs you if at all you find writing as an easy task.Writing news is not equal to writing a composition.
The only good thing when writing journalistic pieces is that it requires the simplest language which can accommodate both well-learned and the ill-learned forks in the society. A journalist is not required to use bombastic words. Bombastic can make the readers lose interest when reading a story and they tend to leave it and look for a another easily written story to go through.
Jargon are not also allowed to be used by journalists unless a particular piece is being directed to a particular group of professionals. Jargon are words which are used in a particular profession and it is exclusively understood by the people who are trained to work in that area of specialization. There are legal jargon (which are used by lawyers in courts), journalistic jargon (which are used by journalists in the newsroom), medical jargon (which are used by medics in hospitals), mathematics jargon (which are used by mathematicians) and many more.
With exception of bombastic and jargon in journalistic writing, one may think it is easy to come up with a well written piece of information. I can tell you for free that as a journalist you are required to translate all the bombastic and jargon into plain English which can be understood better by an average mind.
If you thought mastering a thousand proverbs, metaphors, idioms, similes etc can help you be a good writer, then you are wrong! When you are writing, you write for the people to read. If you write what people cannot comprehend then they tend to avoid reading your work, So you are required to write in such away that it can be understood and appreciated by your readers. Such style of writing is required in journalistic writing.
Avoiding the above may make you think that to writing is an easy task. Have you ever noticed that to write in plain English is also an uphill task? Yes it is an elusive task since to observe tenses, spellings, correct prepositions, correct conjunctions, subject verb agreement, correct vocabulary, correct phrasal verbs (using pass away instead of pass by) etc is not an easy job.
If one is trained to be an English Literature teacher before joining school of journalism, then he or she can make a great journalist. It is, therefore, very paramount to note that simple and best writing skills is required when writing for the press.