Becoming a journalist was a long-held dream of mine, and majoring in journalism when I started college was a no-brainer.
However, during my freshman year I realized reporting was not for me. While I considered switching to a new major, journalism taught me many lessons about both writing and life, and I’m glad I stuck with it. While I now focus more on marketing and PR and won’t be breaking the next presidential scandal, my experience in journalism school was invaluable in shaping me as a writer.
Considering attending a journalism program? Here are the top things I learned in J-school.
1. The worst possible mistake is a factual error
At Northwestern’s Medill School, the “Medill F” is infamous — it even has its ownTwitter account. Anytime a journalism student makes a factual error, he or she automatically fails the assignment.
Getting the facts straight is crucial. As a journalist (or marketer, communicator or advertiser), you’re only as good as your last story (or Tweet, blog post or press release). If you make mistakes when it comes to the facts, you’ll be sacrificing your reputation.
