Columnists

A good way to explore this career is to work for your school newspaper and perhaps write your own column. You could even launch your own blog and promote it to your friends and followers on Facebook, X, and other social media sites. Participation in debate clubs will help you form opinions and express them clearly. Read your city's newspaper regularly, and take a look at national papers as well as magazines. Which columnists, on the local and national level, interest you? Why do you feel their columns are well done? Try to incorporate these good qualities into your own writing. Contact your local newspaper and ask for a tour of the facilities. This will give you a sense of what the office atmosphere is like and what technologies are used there. Ask to speak with one of the paper's regular columnists about his or her job. He or she may be able to provide you with valuable insights. Visit the Dow Jones News Fund Web site (https://www.dowjonesnewsfund.org) for information on careers, summer programs, internships, and more. Try getting a part-time or summer job at the newspaper, even if it's just answering phones and doing data entry. In this way you'll be able to test out how well you like working in such an atmosphere. Once you get into college, participating in an internship or co-op opportunity at a newspaper, news magazine, or other media outlet will give you a good introduction to the field and help you to build your professional network.