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Journalist: what the job actually is
Finding out what is true, writing it so people read it, and getting it out before somebody else does.
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The work
What this job actually is
- Finding things out, checking them, and telling people clearly. That means interviewing, reading documents, going to meetings, and writing or recording the result on a deadline.
- A lot of the work is checking. A story that is quick and wrong is worse than no story, and you spend more time confirming than writing.
- The medium has changed. A reporter today is often expected to write, take photographs, record audio and video, and publish to social platforms, all for the same story.
- Most days are local and ordinary: a council meeting, a court appearance, a school board decision, a fire. The famous stories are a tiny share of the work.
- You will deal with people who do not want to talk to you, people who want you to say something favourable, and readers who think you are the problem.
A Tuesday
What a normal day looks like
Not a good day or a bad one. The ordinary version, which is what you would actually be living.
- 8:30 — Scan what happened overnight and what is scheduled today, and decide what is yours.
- 9:00 — Pitch to the editor. You have two ideas, one is dropped in thirty seconds, and the other is yours now.
- 9:30 — Phone calls. Most people do not call back, so you try three before lunch.
- 11:00 — Drive to a council meeting. Take notes on everything, because the interesting sentence is rarely the one that sounds interesting.
- 13:00 — Sandwich in the car. Transcribe a quote you must get exactly right.
- 14:00 — Write. You have ninety minutes and four hundred and fifty words, and the first paragraph takes half of it.
- 15:45 — Send it to the editor, who cuts it, asks three questions and sends it back.
- 16:30 — Fact-check every name, number and title. A wrong spelling will be the only thing anyone remembers.
- 17:15 — Publish, then post it with a headline that is accurate and also gets read.
- 17:45 — Take the call from somebody who is angry about the story, and listen properly.
Honestly
Who loves this, and who should not do it
The second list is the useful one. Nearly every careers page leaves it out, which is why nearly every careers page reads like an advert.
- You ask questions out of real curiosity, and you keep asking when the first answer is polite and vague.
- You can write clearly under pressure and do not need to be inspired first.
- You are comfortable approaching strangers, including at bad moments in their lives.
- You can take editing and criticism of your writing without it landing on you personally.
- You want to learn something new about a place or an issue most days.
- You want job security. Job Bank's Ontario outlook for this group is Limited, newsrooms have been shrinking, and many early jobs are contract, freelance or part-time.
- You dislike deadlines. They are the whole structure of the day and they do not move.
- You cannot handle criticism from the public. Readers can be harsh, and online comments and messages are a daily part of the job for many.
- You want to give your own opinion. News reporting is about the facts, and the discipline is leaving yourself out.
- You need a regular schedule. News happens at night and on weekends.
The route in
How you actually get there in Ontario
Know that nobody licenses journalists
Job Bank lists this occupation as not regulated in Canada, so you do not need a licence or certification to work as a journalist. Job Bank says a university degree or college diploma in journalism or a related field such as communications is usually required.Choose a college or university programme
ontariocolleges.ca describes journalism programmes with training in news writing, digital media, broadcast journalism, photojournalism and media ethics, working under deadlines in newsroom conditions, and often with work placements. A university degree in journalism, communications or another subject is the other usual route.Publish before you graduate
Write for the school paper, the student radio station or a community outlet. Editors hiring a first reporter look at what you have published and whether you have already worked to a deadline.Expect to start small or freelance
Many first jobs are at local papers, community radio or online outlets, often part-time or on contract. Be honest with yourself about this before you commit, and consider skills that let you work in writing and communications more widely.
Where this comes from: ontariocolleges.ca — Journalism programmes · Job Bank — Journalists: requirements in Ontario
The money
What it pays in Ontario
Job Bank's own figures, quoted rather than summarised, with the period they describe — so you can tell how old they are and go and check them.
- $21.00
- Low (hourly)
- $38.46
- Median (hourly)
- $71.43
- High (hourly)
Ontario, NOC 51113. Reference period 2023-2024, last updated by Job Bank on 19 November 2025. Wages vary a lot by region inside Ontario and by how long you have been doing it — the low figure is roughly where you start, not what the job is worth.
Where it is heading
The outlook for the next three years
Job Bank publishes a three-year outlook for every job in every province. It is the closest thing to an honest forecast, and it moves, so read it as a weather report rather than a verdict.
Limited2 out of 5 stars
- Employment decline will lead to the loss of some positions.
- A moderate number of positions will become available due to retirements.
- There are a moderate number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.
What that rating means: how many openings Job Bank expects in Ontario for this kind of work against how many people are likely to be looking — not whether it is a good job. A “limited” rating means more competition for each opening; it does not close the door, and it can change before you are ready to walk through it.
What is changing in this work
- Downsizing at news and broadcasting outlets in recent years
- There is a prevalence of short-term and project-based work
Who hires for it
- The majority of workers are employed in radio and television broadcasting, and the newspaper, periodical, book and directory publishing industries
- A notable share are freelance workers
- 3,650
- people work in this job in Ontario
- 48%
- are women (48% across all jobs)
- 27%
- are self-employed (15% across all jobs)
Source: Job Bank — Journalists job prospects in Ontario (NOC 51113). Outlook updated by Job Bank on 10 December 2025; read by us on 5 October 2026.
Before you leave school
Things you can do now
- Join the school newspaper, yearbook, radio or morning announcements. If there is not one, start a small one.
- Write a short news piece about something real in your school or town, with at least two named sources and no opinion in it.
- Take English, media studies and any course that makes you write to a word limit.
- Read the same story in three different outlets, and notice what each one chose to leave out.
Test it
Do this before you decide anything
Reading about a job tells you almost nothing. This is designed to be done alone, this week, for free.
Report a 300-word story about your own street
About 120 minutes- Find something that is actually happening in your school, neighbourhood or town: a decision, a closure, an event. Not an opinion.
- Talk to two people involved, with their permission to quote them, and ask each at least five questions, including one you were nervous to ask.
- Write it in 300 words, beginning with the most important fact, using only what you checked.
- Read it back and mark every sentence that you did not confirm. Cut or confirm each one.
What it tells you. If you enjoyed the part where you rang or approached a stranger, and the checking felt like a game, you have the core of the job. If talking to strangers was the part you dreaded, or you kept wanting to add your opinion, journalism will be hard and you may do better in a related writing role.
Better than any article
Questions for somebody who does this job
Most people say yes to a teenager who asks good questions. These are the ones that get real answers rather than encouragement.
- “How did you get your first job in the news business?”
- “What does your week look like, and how much is writing?”
- “How secure is your job, honestly?”
- “What would you do if you were starting today?”
- “How do you deal with people who hate what you wrote?”
- “Is a journalism diploma worth it, or is a general degree better?”
Could you own one of these?
The part other career sites never mention
Partly. Many journalists work freelance, selling stories to different outlets, and some start their own newsletters, podcasts or local news sites. Income from those is uneven and depends on building an audience or a set of editors who commission you, so most people have another source of income at the start.
Not sure this is the right list to be reading
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Parent of a teenager weighing this up? Career coaching for teens gets them talking to people who do the work, anywhere in Ontario.
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Wages and training requirements change. Every figure on this page is linked to the body that publishes it, and the review date above says when we last checked. If you find something out of date, tell us and we will fix it.