Photograph Source:
Pexels.com, Jaymantri
Growing up, we all have dreams and aspirations. One of my biggest dreams was to become a scientist.
After listening to Stephen Leahy, an award-winning environmental journalist who’s work has been published in multiple publications, I realized I can be the next best thing.
An environmental, science or health journalist takes the crucial, complex words from scientists or science related press releases. They grasp these concepts and make them simple for lay people to comprehend.
During our time with Leahy, I learned a lot from him. The following are the things in which I found most impactful.
He invested ten years in a marketing career, while I know this has nothing to do with science, I thought it was remarkable how someone can go from one career to the next. This is something which is important as it’s literally ‘when one door closes, another one opens’.
I believe young journalists hearing this from another journalist was a positive. I think as younger people, we think we need to find jobs as soon as we’re out of school, and if we settle for one we’re unhappy with, we’ve failed in life. This isn’t true, as we have the opportunity to have many jobs, and will most likely not be limited to one.
After this, Leahy told us how he got his job without a science degree. He told us to get his status that he has now as an award-winning journalist, he had to have confidence.
On top of his confidence, he had to realize that all professions have their own languages, and he had to learn the language of science to completely comprehend the materials.
He also emphasized that most things aren’t as complex as they seem. For someone who doesn’t have a science degree it’s important that he passed this information to the next generation of journalists.
I think this can be applied to any job as a journalist. As long as you have confidence, comprehend the complex language and realize things aren’t as troublesome as they may seem, you can do it.
His advice to young journalists was ‘curiosity is key’ and that your enthusiasm shows in your writing.
This is important to remind us as I think we may rush to get stories out but in reality, we need to be interested in what we’re writing, and letting that show without giving bias.