Seventeen veteran journalists reveal their biggest learning curves to help rookie reporters find their feet in the industry
When starting out in journalism, it can seem that you are a million miles from the type of journalist you want to be.
But ask any veteran and they will tell you they were rookies once, before one day something clicked and the pieces started to come together - but you do not have to go to the trouble of seeking this advice out for yourself.
Freelance writer Matthew Kassel sourced seventeen of these epiphanies in an article with experts from across the media industry on the Columbia Journalism Review. As Ruth Graham, staff writer, Slate, describes, sometimes less is more when trying to land stories.
"My wise editor encouraged me to switch (tactics) and say as little as possible: Just start by asking if they’d be willing to chat about X. It worked," it reads.
"This isn’t an ironclad rule, but the more experience I get as a journalist, the more I realise the wisdom of saying less, both in requests and in interviews themselves."
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