Section 2: Who I want to be #JournalismGoals

Matt Thompson’s 4 types of journalist has forced me to think about who I want to be as a journalist. As a result of brainstorming his categorisation, I have classified myself as the ‘Provocateur’. The idea of offering an insight into mundane activities of the world excites me. However, provocateur alone doesn’t describe me as a whole. I am also a ‘Storyteller’. I like finding new ideas and revealing them to my readers. In all, I think these strict categories do not capture the essence of a journalist. A journalist is part Storyteller, Newshound, Systems Analyst and Provocateur, or all at once. These are not mutually exclusive classifications and we function as all four in various situations. At least, I want to!

As a journalist, I want to equip myself with a variety of skills. Hence, I believe I want to be a generalist, working on ideas as and when they come. I want to write about loads of different things and be as flexible as possible with my subjects. With the flexibility, I shall gain an all-round perspective of journalism and this shall help me in my own media venture.

I prefer being a staff journalist over freelancing, because I aspire the security and responsibility of representing an organisation. In the long run, I see myself working for various organisations internationally, networking and creating a profile in the industry. Building on my experience, contacts and reputation, I then want to start my own operation and be a media entrepreneur.

Even though, I see myself writing for print or online in early stages in my career, I want to work in Television eventually. I see myself working in journalistic roles such as on-screen reporter, news anchor and on-screen interviewer. I fancy working as a broadcast journalist and appearing on screen.

I am interested in International Journalism including world politics, global economy, international culture and travel. I feel I shall start in the role of South-Asia correspondent, slowly working my way towards Europe and Middle-East. I am equally interested in public interest and service journalism. My aspiration of being a generalist could provide me the liberty to function as both.

I like talking to people and meeting new people, from all professions and backgrounds (anyone that adds to my story!) I like story telling; to present a version of a story so exemplified, it touches people or changes them. I think I have a personal style of writing, and I want to develop my style further because at this stage it is very raw and informal. I like using technology in my work and finding new ways to tell a story.

As a journalist, I want to travel and be a part of the story I am telling. I like digging into documents, researching backgrounds and analysing locations. I am quite fond of backgrounders and explainers; I think these kind of features give the reader a deeper involvement.

However, keeping in mind my desire to be an entrepreneur, I do want to step into production and working on editorial. Being a broadcast journalist might offer me the best of both worlds. Clearly, I want to make a career, not just work jobs. I think journalism is a serious profession that I want to transform into my own venture someday.

As a general overview, after I graduate I want to be international news reporter working my way up to Chief International Foreign Correspondent for a television network channel and eventually, using my experience and international network, start my own multi-platform operation specialising in International Journalism.

Do read Section 3 to review my action plan for these #JournalismGoals.