Do journalists make for good writers?

Márquez

He was, and apparently it was a big influence on his style because he had to trim words to reduce the costs of sending his articles to the states.

Vollmann

Mark Twain, Jack London, Ernest Hemingway, George Orwell, and Hunter Thompson say "Yes".

Although, I believe, Jack London didn't start as a journalist.

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I'd wager not. Journalism only impresses me with its partisan attitude and anti-intellectualism. The only professional journalist I know is a highly political individual, and a typical ambulance chaser.

The modern journalist is nothing if not political. I do not believe that idealists make for good writers, because they always seem to have trouble describing people outside of their dogma.

I studied journalism and ended up growing bored writing about shit that didn't interest me, so I became a graphic designer and enjoy it much more no matter what I'm working on and I save energy for my own writing.

honestly I've never tried. Not really my thing. More interested in theory and criticism. Most of my articles have been art criticism, but occasionally just art journalism (announcements of awards, interviews with heads of non-profits and museums)

ugh, so fucking tired of this 'journalists are political hacks' narrative. The vast, vast majority of journalism is not at all political. Its who won the baseball game, or a new grocery store opening, what happened at a city council meeting, fun events happening next weekend, a high school graduation, stock market numbers, an interview with a world war 2 veteran, a local preacher speaking out about gang violence, etc.

Reporting is rarely political, we don't generally get to insert our own opinions into things. Please don't equate partisan political journalism as being the core of journalism, its just what gets clicks on facebook and what plays on cable tv. It probably makes up less than 15% of all journalism.

Tom Wolfe

A.J. Liebling- one of the best writers on ww2, horseracing, boxing, food, and general charlatanism EVER.

Local news segments are any more noble fag

>Local news segments are any more noble fag

not saying there is anything noble about it. If anything, I want to say the opposite. Investigative journalism and political journalism cast themselves as heroic figures and everyone outside journalism takes that as their model of journalism. No, journalism is a hell of a lot more mundane than that. Its about announcing a bridge closure, a food pantry opening, a bus route change, profiling a local musician, what happened at the sports game. It's just the basic grease of a connected media society. Without it, we'd be lost, but it isn't any more noble than a bus driver showing up for work or a bank teller cashing your paycheck. Its just part of our society's everyday functioning.

BUT, as it pertains to OPs point, it does give you an opportunity to write, with the assistance of an editor, and you also get paid to do it. I find that my writing has greatly improved since I started working for newspapers and magazines. I'm guessing this is a better way to 'train' than aimlessly shooting blanks while trying to write the next great american novel and spending 40 hours a week working as a bus driver. No insult to the bus driver, I bet they're a better driver than I am.

Holy shit lol

Well they usually do write a lot of fiction in the news

Journalists are basically just paid liars.

Like a soulless slogan-slinging marketdroid?

They write at a 3rd grade level for an audience of retards, barely even comprehend half the things they're trying to report on, and basically only excel at taking bribe money to manipulate, mislead, and lie to their readers.

Whatever level of hell is dedicated to the lawyers, there's one even worse for the journalists.

And I'd like to add:
There are some good journalists out there, though they are the exception to the rule.

However, good journalism requires you piss off the rich and powerful; good journalists tend to suicide themselves with two bullets to the back of the head. Hence, you arrive at a situation in which the liars and manipulators are actively rewarded and keep their jobs and gain prestige and wealth, and those who actually investigate and report the truth end up dead, or changing careers in a hurry.

You could not pay me to call myself a journalist anymore than you could pay me to call myself a murderer.

That is, of course, unless it would embarrassing for the wealthy to have to murder you. Some rich and powerful folk look down upon the whole murder thing. Turn their nose up at it, y'know? There's good rich people, but I bet they're the most reclusive.

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I once wrote for a newspaper and it teaches you the power of fewer words over more,à la Twain and Hemingway, but it stifles creativity and emphasis through a series of words. You can emphasize on a subject through multiple paragraphs but you're punished for adverbs and adjectives. If you wish to be spartan in your writing it helps however if you want any color don't be a newspaper journalist.