47 Days from a Journalist’s Point of View.

A few months ago, I attended a forum on women's leadership (WoLAf7) , after which I wrote an article to summarize my experience. I shared the link to the post with my mentor, who really appreciated it and offered me an internship at an online press run by one of her big sisters. I accepted immediately, as it was a golden opportunity to familiarize myself with the field of communication and media in general. I submitted my application and was contacted to start the following week. So, this is how I began this brand new adventure that I would like to share with you today. Thank you for joining me. Enjoy reading.

• “ Blog articles are not press articles...”

I started my internship on the morning of Monday, April 14, 2025. After the meeting, I was able to meet the online press promoter, with whom I spoke for a few minutes. She wanted to know if I had any writing skills, and more specifically, journalistic writing. I hesitated to answer, because writing, yes, I write (a lot), but was it the same? That's when a colleague said to me:

— “Send her the link to your blog…”

To which the promoter replied:

— “Blog articles are not press articles…”

She was quite right. Blogging and journalism are two quite different communication styles. The profession of journalism is much more demanding and subject to numerous rules, unlike that of a blogger. Even so, in both cases, one must always adhere to ethics and professionalism by not spreading false information or hate. In journalism, one does not say "I," that is, one does not give one's opinion. The approach is based on the systematic verification of sources and the cross-checking of information. Its responsibilities extend to the fight against disinformation. Journalists analyze, decipher, and contextualize current affairs to offer the public an understanding of societal issues. Bloggers, on the other hand, are much "freer" and can stop at the stage of personal opinion.

Even though many bloggers today are rigorous in their production, in terms of remuneration, journalists are paid per article, per report, or receive a fixed salary at the end of the month, while bloggers are compensated in a more diversified way: this can be through affiliation, offering services, selling training courses, writing sponsored articles, advertising, coaching, etc.

Another point: just as the promoter said that "there is no such thing as an office journalist," there are fewer and fewer "office bloggers." Bloggers are no longer those who comment on the world solely through their small screens, but they also go out, exchange, live experiences and use them to feed their articles, sometimes supplementing them with research . In this sense, they are closer to the column, which is also a branch of journalism in which the columnist can express himself in the first person and openly share his favorites as well as his indignations, but always in a supervised manner.

• #AvisDeJeunes with Mouniirah.

  
  

Since my internship wasn't planned to last long, we decided to focus on the main skills I wanted to develop. There were three of them: animation, social media management, and writing press articles. I chose animation first because, for those of you who have been following me for a while, you may remember our #iiaskyou section. I put it on hold for some time for personal reasons, but also to come back better equipped. And for that, I needed to develop more skills. This is how the #AvisDeJeunes section was born, which is a series of street interviews that I hosted for five weeks. And what can I say, it was an exercise, I would say... very stimulating.

Unlike interviews, vox pops are much more raw. You have your topic, you have an idea of your audience, but you never know what to expect once you get out there. Over the five episodes I filmed, I interviewed about 20 people, but I approached almost twice as many. Many refuse to give their opinion, especially when a camera is pointed at them, but as I learned over time, it also depends on the journalist's approach and the topic at hand. However, alternatives exist: you can suggest masking faces, changing voices, or using aliases. I didn't do this because I wanted to convey a more direct connection to the audience, even if it made the task a little more complicated. Here are some tips I can share based on my experience:

1. Prepare in advance: Before each interview, I prepared the scenario in my head, but also on paper, by writing the script. This allowed me to know what to say and when, and to stress less. Because yes, it's not only the interviewees who get stressed (laughs). Also, make sure your equipment is charged and ready to go.

2. Analyze your target audience: For each topic, you'll need to analyze your target audience in advance. You wouldn't ask vegetarians if they prefer beef or mutton. Similarly, it's very important to think about the location and audience you're going to interview.

3. Be kind: Most people aren't afraid of cameras, but of how their words will be interpreted and whether it could be detrimental to them later. Be kind in your approach. For sensitive or personal topics, it's important to have a brief conversation with the individuals involved and obtain their consent first. Make sure they look their best and reshoot as many times as necessary. Are these details? Yes, but details that make a difference.

4. Don't push too hard: Some people need a little encouragement, others are adamant, and still others are very shy. They don't want to say no, even if that's what they think. They may agree to answer, but you'll feel that their energy is low, as if they feel obligated. In these cases, don't force it. If they still agree to be filmed, show them the video afterward, and if they don't like it, delete it in front of them.

• “Journalism is a vocation and there is no money in it...”

On May 7, 2025, exactly three weeks after the start of my internship, I received this message from a friend, himself a former journalist:

Not very encouraging, I replied. But he wasn't entirely wrong. Besides, the promoter had also once said: "Journalism is a vocation, and there's no money in it." At the time, I wasn't sure how to take this information. But I thought about it for a long time, trying to project myself. Am I passionate enough to accept that there's no money in it? And why is that, anyway? Because in Europe, for example, a journalist's salary varies between 1,295,000 FCFA for a beginner and 1,560,000 FCFA for an expert per month (source: Indeed) . It's true that the cost of living isn't the same, but I don't think that justifies salaries being too low either. Don't they say that a hungry man has no ears? The danger is that this can affect ethics and integrity. After all, passion doesn't pay the bills. Any job should be about feeding your man.

• 1 article per day

At the beginning of my internship, I set a goal: to write at least one article per day. Not counting my first week, that would mean 25 articles over the remaining six weeks. I think I've achieved that goal. I wrote about 40 articles, 33 of which were published. Most were rewrites, with three feature stories (🟣).

I also carried out media monitoring for a week. This involves monitoring, collecting, and analyzing information disseminated by traditional and digital media. It allows us to identify trends, anticipate crises, and seize communication opportunities. In simple terms, it involved doing a round of national and international media every morning, listing current topics related to our editorial line, in order to choose those to cover during the day. For someone who was (and is) not a big fan of continuous news, I admit that it was a rather unusual experience.

My internship ended on May 30, 2025. So, I had a total of 47 days, 47 days in the shoes of a journalist. During those seven weeks, I met a lot of people, had wonderful experiences, and attended many events that I probably wouldn't have attended under other circumstances. We closed with a community meal on June 12, celebrating two anniversaries in the newsroom. We then received training in artificial intelligence, and I led a panel moderated by a fellow intern on the theme: Why is it important to follow your passion? I'll probably come back to this in a future article.

In the meantime, I'm grateful for everything I've learned and proud to have been able to share my knowledge as well. I extend my sincere thanks to my WoLAf mentor, the Mousso News promoter, and my colleagues. To all those who encouraged me during this mini-journey, thank you for your feedback, suggestions, and sharing. And thank you, dear readers, for reading me. I hope I've succeeded, through these lines, in shedding a little more light on the profession of journalism.

Will I become a journalist, a columnist, or remain a blogger in the future? Time will tell, inshaAllah. May God bless you, take care.

One more thing before you go... If you have appreciated this post, I would like to ask you to please take a few more seconds to like, comment, or share; that's how I can know that my work is indeed useful. Be blessed.

Sources:

https://www.moussonews.com/

https://www.notuxedo.com/blogging-and-journalism-difference/

https://www.narratiiv.school/actualites/journalisme/quelle-est-la-difference-entre-journalist-et-columnist

https://www.tutositeweb.fr/creer-un-blog-remunere/

https://fr.indeed.com/conseils-careers/remuneration-salaire/combien-earn-un-journalist