How Does a Journalist Spend a Workday?
Other People Are Reading
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Communicating
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A journalist's job starts with communication--to the public, to public relations departments and to governmental or business officials. In addition to attending meetings and reading official reports, journalists keep in touch with certain officials in departments that involve whatever beat they are covering; these officials often provide information and quotes for articles or may refer them to other sources who can be interviewed for articles. The public also may call into a newsroom to provide a tip or information about certain topics. Some of the work may be done in the office, while other work may be conducted at such sites as meetings, governmental buildings, special events, crime or investigation scenes.
Researching
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To gather information on a topic, a journalist may have to research other articles in his or other publications, official documents and other texts, videos, audio and presentations. This research may not go directly into the article, but it may be indirectly used in it or provide a lead to another source or provide information for a separate article.
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Writing
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The bulk of a journalist's time is spent writing. Each journalist has his own way of crafting the article. Generally in articles, the writer includes research information, quotes and information from sources who were interviewed and other information from meetings, events and documents. They might also have to include charts and graphs, special sidebars and other information that might not be in the actual article.
Other duties
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Journalists may also have to write blogs for the company website, load articles and other information to the site, copy edit, write headlines and take pictures, video or audio, among other duties. In small offices, they may even have to run errands, answer general calls or office visits and other office duties not specifically related to a journalist's job.
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