Journalism: First job at a news agency?

It’s 8 p.m. and the room looks chaotic. Reporters and editors are busy filing stories. This is a scene straight out of news agencies across the world. Also referred to as news wires, news agencies produce news that is in turn used by media houses like newspapers and electronic media. Owing to the authenticity of the news they provide, news agencies have successfully survived the onset of technological developments like the Internet.

Somreet Bhattacharya, who began his career with Press Trust of India (PTI) feels that news agencies are ideal places to start a career in journalism. “The atmosphere of a news agency exposes you to all the aspects of news production,” he adds. Right from language basics and meetings, strict deadlines to producing flawless copy, everything can be learned here. However, many find it hard to cope, initially. 

Tough beginnings
Strict deadlines and short time-frames are a part and parcel of the job. “You are expected to file a story in 20-25 minutes!’ says Amit Kumar, who used to work with an international news agency, and is now a senior copy editor with a leading business newspaper.

“The work pressure at times takes a toll on you. But these things also improve the skill of editing, resulting in reporting with minimum errors,” says Tarun Basu, Chief Editor, IANS. “Gradually it develops a strong skill of accuracy and timeliness in you, which is the best thing about working in a new agency,” reflects Amit.

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Hiring process and skills
Unfortunately, job opportunities are limited in news agencies, which conduct written tests also referred to as ‘copy tests’ to screen candidates. These tests check your linguistic knowledge, its usage and awareness of what is happening around us. Sound language skills and good grammar are important attributes.

They expect you to produce short, crisp articles in a limited time frame. To meet the deadline is the most important thing, a recruiter would look for. You must be able to think on your feet, write fast and handle stress at work.  “One should put in extra effort in studying the area of reporting to have a better understanding of the subject,” adds Aaheli Bagchi, who worked with Newswire18.

News agency versus broadcast
The main difference is that one doesn’t have much time to gather and study information before producing the news in broadcast media where the turnaround time is faster. Though remaining a silent partner of various forms of media, news agencies are still catering to lots of TV news or stories published in newspapers daily. It is a real experience to work and learn in the humdrum of a newsroom where daily thousands of stories are produced.

Pros and cons
The two biggest complaints are odd hours and low salary structures. “Working at a news agency is demanding when it comes to work timings and taking offs,” says Pallavi Malik who changed her job as a sub editor at a leading news agency to communication executive at a marketing firm. Elated when she was offered the job, her enthusiasm gradually waned due to unplanned and odd timings and conservative salary structure.

On the contrary Aaheli says that the rigour of filing 14 stories a day has instilled in her the skills of correlating information and tailoring it into a news piece. Also, Basu maintains that these issues can be overcome once you get in the groove of working at a news agency.