How to Become a Maritime Reporter?

A career in correspondence industry can be an exciting one. Career as a reporter especially a maritime reporter would mean you would never have a monotonous day at work. With development of the marine industry, a significant growth in scope of work for maritime reporting has been seen. Hence, today a career as a maritime reporter is better than ever.

Who exactly is a Maritime Reporter?

So it’s the basic question. Any person who reports any kind of event related to marine industry news can be called a maritime reporter. Their main job is to present information related to the marine world to the people.

This may be done in form of articles, radio transmission, news channel coverage, columns, interviews, investigations etc.

What does it take to become a Maritime Reporter?

To become a member of the maritime reporting world, you need to have some basic qualities.

• Ability to pay attention to details- a reporter must be able to spot what can be missed by someone else.

• Listening skills- since a lot of work in maritime industry news involves listening to other people’s accounts, you should have patience to hear them through and ability to make the most of it.

• Comprehensive skills- as a maritime reporter, you’d be dealing with various modes of receiving information and it is important your should be able to comprehend it effectively and correctly

• Reporting skills- You should be able to relay news and information from source to people without loss of information or tampering with facts on the way.

• Communication skills- depending on the kind of mass media service you work with, your communication skills may vary. Ability to talk to people to get information from them and then convey it through your mode of news reporting requires you to be comfortable in communicating with people.

• Writing and speaking- a good hold on grammar both in written and spoken medium along with efficiency of communicating is an essential part of maritime reporting.

How to become a Maritime Reporter?

So if you think that a career in maritime news would suit you and you think you possess the above mentioned qualities then you are in a good spot. To become a maritime reporter, you would need the following.

• A bachelor’s or master’s degree in mass communication can be the first step towards your maritime news career.

• Along with a degree, additional courses in correspondence like speaking and writing skills can help you get a hold of this line of work even better.

• Getting some hands on training in this field is also necessary before you can expect to make a full scale entry into main stream maritime reporting.

• Experience as a correspondent, not necessarily in marine industry news, will also boost up your qualifications for this post. At least an experience of two to four years as a full time maritime news reporter is the basic requirement of most job descriptions.

What would be the job profile?

So you think you have the qualities and qualification to become a maritime reporter. Well then get ready for a job that would take you across the globe, quite possibly. Maritime reporting is an on field job so traveling happens to be a main feature of your work profile.

Maritime reports cover everything from marine economy to developments in marine science, navy developments or the technical advancements, general happening in the marine world etc. You can join as a full time or part time reporter or as a journalist, editor or intelligence analyst. However, regular work timings are something this job does not guarantee. And writing maritime reports or giving video transmissions could be your daily job as a marine reporter.

What are the job prospects in this field?

Since maritime reporting is catching up quickly, there is an abundance of job as a maritime reporter. You can get a job as a reporter for any magazine or newspaper that deals with marine industry news solely or partially. Or you can become a correspondent for a journal that deals with a particular aspect of marine world like economics, research and development journals, shipping and technical journals etc.

A very lucrative job as a maritime reporter could be that of a marine traveling reporter who offers his travel experience to others. You can write a column or in a magazine or enter the multimedia as a TV reporter. Jobs as an editor, technical analyst, investigator, subject matter expert etc are open for people with an interest in maritime reporting.

You can work for government institutes or private companies depending on your area of interest. You can easily look for these jobs online along with submitting an online resume to get a quick confirmation for job. Most of the recruiters here would need to know mainly about your work experience and a test of your reporting skills.

Any additional tips?

The most important tip for a career in marine news world is to have passion and persistence. Things are not always a smooth ride so you need to have the persistence to keep trying until you get through and passion to keep your persistence charged. Besides this, getting as much experience as a reporter right from the start can also help.

If you wish to make it big in this line of work, start honing your skills early. Brush up your communication skills which include your spoken and written communication along with your comprehension. Improve your PR skills to get the most out of this job. Knowing more than one language can also make a lot of difference.

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