/lit/ Im looking to have a career in journalism and writing,

I was once like you. I got a journalism degree and spent a few years as a subeditor.

Spoiler: don't do journalism, it's a waste of fucking time. The industry is fucked beyond repair.

>>8776001
What do you do now?

>>8776010

Pharmaceutical engineer. My background in technical checking was my way into the industry. Pays a lot more as well.

>>8776001
See thats what Ive been afraid of, Im set on being involved in writing but I know my chances of being able to make it in the industry are very slim.

It seems like its hard to get anything done in journalism without publishing lies, propaganda pieces or tabloid shit.

First gamer gate, and now the american election, Ive lost all faith in mainstream media and journalism. But I want to get involved in it, and at least try and bring people the actual truth instead of the distorted bastardised shit that the mainstream media shits out at a consistently overwhelming rate.

I feel like there is a general movement against traditional mms at the moment, more people are getting their information from alternative sources than ever, so it seems like it might be an opportune time to involve myself in the industry, Im hoping there will finally be some kind of kickback against the bullshit media tyrant nazi fucks.

This American Election cycle has disenfranchised a lot of people, many have become disenchanted by traditional media, I think people in the west at least are become more sceptical.

I have some hope still for the industry, but I see the future in independent journalism. One person with webcam, or one person with a blog can make a living and gain more consistent attention than main stream outlets, the mainstreams message is too tempered, mild, and bias, people see through that now, and are heading to independent sources.

One person working alone can get more done on the internet than a major corporation can. That means a lot. The old business model of traditional media whether it be news papers or TV dont work anymore, they're too slow, there is too much bureaucracy and pandering, its not a practical way to make money to give people the news, they're fading into obscurity and becoming desperate to maintain a grasp, just look at facebooks attack on "fake news", they're targeting independent medias platform, they're not going to attack the fake news that msm publish, they're not going to address the fact that msm are just as bad if not worse when it comes to fake news, they're going to attack the platform of sites that arent even fake news outlets, this is a desperate attempt on behalf of msm to try and take control over the internet and gain an advantage. People are seeing this and are upset, I feel like if the msm dont just give up and keep pushing like this we're going to see another gamegate like event, just bigger this time. We already know from gamergate and the election that communities on the internet have influence and that online movements can gain traction and attention in the public and msm so I wouldnt put it out of the quesiton.

Part of me is scared to be involved in journalism but part of me has hope as well that it could work.

>>8776334
I just read this back and my English is terrible and so is my wording, apologies for that, I didnt read it over before posting, and Im also very tired. Hope it all makes sense though.

>>8776334

If you want to make an impact, research investigative journalism publications. Get to know how they work. Start filing FoI requests and writing your own articles, try to sell your work. Maybe one day you'll get a byline a permanent job. Even then, never expect to make a good living or believe you have any security. Journalism pays fucking terribly and publications are laying good, experienced people off all the time.

>>8776334
I can't speak to internal politics in news organizations, but I can speak to psychology, and I think you may have it backwards. Independent media has potential, but right now it's quite cancerous, full of useful idiots and desperate echo chambers.

Mainstream media may be biased, but it's a bias you can easily see and correct for if you care to, because these people are out in the public eye and have to adhere at least somewhat to journalistic integrity. Cable news channels are fucked and always were, but major newspapers and magazines will be (mostly, with aberrations like that Rolling Stone rape story) decent until we finally strangle them to death. I wouldn't let the election get you down, those campaigns they ran were engineered to drag us down to shit flinging monkey level, and the media got dragged along because of ratings and money, and for some a desire to prevent what they probably perceived at the time as the next holocaust.

Meanwhile, the independent media is run entirely by shit flinging monkeys, at least when it isn't run by businessmen and foreign kids monetizing our desire for confirmation of our world views. It's not the fault of the medium, so much as the fault of our psychology. Until we can collectively agree as a society to value truth over that little shot of adrenaline that comes with headlines that enrage us or confirm our beliefs, I imagine it's only going to get worse, especially as news moves increasingly from subscriber models to ad revenue models.

>>8776457
I never expect to make good money or even have it as my full time job, I just love to write and I love to investigate and research so thats what I do. The hope I have comes from the fact that its easier now than ever to self publish, and self employ in regards to journalism.

>>8776506
Independent media is a mixed bag of self policing individuals, as opposed to the entirely bullshit main stream media. Which I think most people recognise as having more value than main stream media, and worth their time. Thats why I think trump won, because while main stream media was trying to tear down trump through smear campaigns and label him as a sexist, racist, misogynist, people were paying attention to independent news, which was reporting on all the flaws of the Clinton campaign, and information coming from wikileaks, I honestly think clinton would have won if independant media hadnt reported on the shadowy underbelly of the democratic party, and if clinton wasnt implicated in so much bullshit. Independant media and online communities had a huge impact on this election.

People are moving away from main media as much as they are moving away from main stream politics, and the bullshit of neo-libs and neo conservatives. The old guard media are heavily intertwined with old guard politics, and so people are put off by it.

Whether independent media is more good than bad is irrelevant really, people are frustrated, major news papers and magazines are dying if not already dead, just look at the new york times, the new york times is the second largest news publication in the united states, though they came out and apologised for their lack of journalistic intergrity this election cycle, people just see that as confirmation of what they already know, that its bullshit, instead of reparing things, that apology served to destroy what trust was left for the media, its not worth peoples time to correct for bias and lies, now the new york time is losing fuck loads of subscriptions and so are most other major publications like the wallstreet journal.


Main stream media is expensive to produce and publish, its getting more click baity as a result of moving to ad based business models, and paid endorsements instead of subscriber models.

The consumer doesnt feel like main stream media has their best interests in mind so they are losing people.

People value the truth, and they value representation, people dont like feeling like they cannot trust the people who provide them with news and information, the same way they dont feel like they can trust people who are supposed to run their countries.

People dont feel like they can trust main stream media, they can see that they have other agendas, thats another thing that puts them off, same goes with politicians, people could see that Hillary Clinton had alternative agendas and that she was not someone with their best interests in mind, thats why trump and bernie got such major support. Whether or not trump has peoples best interests in mind is yet to be seen, the point is more that people are seeking change.

I agree that there is a lot of bullshit in independent media, but people see it as change and its giving them what they crave so thats where they are moving

>>8775982
Give up now and find a career with a future.

>>8776730
Whether them moving to independent media is a good or bad thing is yet to be seen, but its happening regardless. An international paradigm shift is underway.

Both within the US and internationally political corruption and misrepresentation has seen major change happen everywhere. Korea is having riots and is calling for impeachment of their leader because she was corrupt and taking orders from a shadow government. The Philippines elected duterte, a loud mouthed radical cunt populist. Britain elected to leave the EU and other countries are calling for the same.
Trump got elected. There is a major rise in right wing populist groups in Europe. Many people in many nations are calling for change.

The media is so far removed from the populations of most countries that they couldnt predict obvious trends that independent media could. They couldnt predict a trump win, they couldnt predict duterte's win, they couldnt predict Britain electing to leave the EU, they couldnt predict the rise of right wing populist parties, they only realised most of this shit was happening long after everyone else did, they've got blinders on.

>>8776785
And dont even get me started on gamergate, that was the beginning of the shift away from main stream media. They couldnt predict that it would happen, and when it did, when people called them out for their lack of journalistic integrity, when people got fed up, Journalists turned against them and made it a social justice issue, anyone pissed off with the media was labelled a sexist or a misogynist. The gaming community and gaming press had a major rift torn between them, when it broke into main stream media, and it broke out of the gaming community, and became a bigger issue than that just gaming and gaming journalism, and just became generally about journalistic integrity, it tore a rift between a lot of consumers and main stream media outlets, now I know I make it sound like a bigger deal than it was but thats where I see this change beginning, gamergate isnt the cause of all the change, but gamergate is a flag post for the beginning of it all, a lot of shit has been brewing behind the scenes for a long time.