Getting into Journalism
SIR,—Mr. N. R. Longmate, of Worcester College, Oxford, in his article on getting into journalism, raises a problem which deserves to be recon- sidered by newspaper proprietors and editors. It is true that journalism cannot offer a wide-open door. According to my calculations, arrived at with actuarial help, the profession's average annual intake is a net 276 people. One must allow for a proportion of misfits, but this is probably smaller than it was owing to greater choice and care in appoint- ing beginners. The intake figure, including those who quickly drop out, may be put therefore at 350. Most of these begin as junior reporters at the age of 16 or 17. The openings for graduates are bound to be few.
Great and ambitious efforts are being made to improve the training and education of juniors. This, excellent in itself, may tend to reduce even the present small demand for graduates. That would be a mistaken policy. We need some of the best trained minds from the universities for such work as leader-writing. The problem of their journalistic start must be thought out and fitted into the new methods of recruitment and training. The days of drifting on to the Press are over.—Yours
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