SO,THIS IS JOURNALISM?

Picture by google images

            By Linda Mupemo

Being on attachment with the biggest government newspaper has taught me so many journalistic lessons I will live to remember.

Before I started work, one of my lecturers, Emmanuel Kunda told me to be innovative and sharp at work.

“In journalism, you land running,” he advised me, adding that I did not have to wait to be oriented; instead I had to fit in the field like a chameleon suits every environment it finds itself in. 

Well, I did just that. And on my fifth day (28th September, 2013) of working for the Zambia Daily Mail , my news story made it to the front page. It was actually the lead story. I was overly excited.

 I have come to have insight on what really goes on in the media industry. I must say it’s no child play.

Journalists go through a lot for them to come up with, publish and air news that is suitable for public consumption. Firstly, in the newsroom, there is an Assignment Editor who is waiting for reporters to submit their assigned stories on time, there is a public that is thirsty for news and there is another media house next door with the same information as you so you have to be as quick as possible lest you find yourself disseminating information that is history.

It’s a tricky profession. Like in a laboratory, characters are tested and ethics pushed to the limits. But how one handles there delicate responsibilities determines whether they will be a respectable media person or not. I believe a good journalist is not measured by how many stories one writes or how many times one appears on television but how ones work tallies with the universally accepted media ethics.

Journalism can build or destroy ones character, at the end of the day; one has to choose what they want. You can be a political ‘vuvuzela’ (mouth piece) if you want and give positive coverage to politicians whether they are doing sensible or senseless things or you can subscribe to universal media ethics and operate according to the acceptable journalistic standards which put balance, fairness, objectivity and truth telling in the front row.

Words alone cannot even begin to describe the benefits that come with being a journalist.  Traveling around the globe becomes your daily routine. In my first week of attachments, I explored all corners of Lusaka city. It was an amazing experience. If I could relive it, I could do it a thousand times. State functions become your play ground, press releases by prominent people and organisations become your daily messages and how you report about them will make them either popular or unpopular. Prominent people become your peers and their phone numbers fill up your phone book. 

Am yet to come across such a profession, it goes to say journalism is the most exciting profession in the whole wide world.

Like my supervisor Jimmy Chibuye once said, journalism is a profession that combines all other professions. It’s up to an individual to decide what they want to specialise in.

“In journalism, you can be anything you want to be. You can be an Economist by specialising in business reporting, you can be a doctor by specialising in health reporting, you can be a sports person by specialising in sports reporting, you can be a lawyer by specialising in legal reporting and you can be so much more,” he stated.

Indeed, being a journalist means being a million in one.

All in all, I am very grateful to the entire  University of Zambia Mass Communication Department team for shaping my journalistic skills so far. The experience I had during my attachments will forever be part and parcel of my sweetest memories. May God continue imparting you with more knowledge so that you can transmit it to other students and I.