When working toward a goal one must have an idea as to how to achieve it, and now that I have figured out the path that I would like to take as a fashion journalist I must now prepare myself by figuring out what I need to do in order to achieve that goal.
The first step to prepare me to be a fashion and entertainment journalist is to familiarize myself with all things that relate to fashion and entertainment such as magazines, blogs, interviews and documentaries to get an insight into the different types of journalism there is in the fashion industry. My media diet should consist of:
- Magazines: Vogue, Vanity Fair, GQ, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Empire and Total Film
- Online: Buzzfeed, The Cut, Business of Fashion, Fashionista, Eonline and Entertainment Tonight
- Documentaries: Alexa Chung: The Future of Fashion, In Vogue: The Editors Eye, Absolutely Fashion: Inside British Vogue and Inside Dior
- Blogs: WeWoreWhat, Man Repeller, The Blonde Salad, Pandora Sykes, The Haute Pursuit, GabiFresh, Sincerely Jules, Song of Style and The Fashion Guitar
- People: Derek Blasberg, Joe Zee, Elizabeth Holmes, Eric Wilson, Edward Enninful, Susie Bubble, Christina Binkley, Nina Garcia, Cathy Horyn and Vanessa Friedman
The next step is regarding my university course choices that will allow me to gain the necessary knowledge and experience that will help me achieve my goal. The courses that I am considering to take are:
- First Year: Introduction to Consumer and Lifestyle Journalism
- The reason why I chose this course was because the topics that it will cover consists of fashion, beauty and lifestyle which are all essential topics that I need to learn as an aspiring fashion journalist but also since I have expressed interest in the entertainment sector they also offer topics such as tech, food, gaming and cars.
- I also need to be able to understand how to create content that would attract readers and also learn the style of writing that is needed of a fashion and entertainment journalist.
- Second Year: Specialist Journalism 1 – Fashion Journalism and Creativity
- The Fashion Journalism course will allow me to have an insight into the world of fashion and journalism where I will explore the history of fashion, successful bloggers and debates that arise within the fashion industry. All of those topics will widen my knowledge of fashion and will help me gain the confidence I need in my path to become a fashion journalist.
- The Creativity course can be seen as unnecessary to a fashion journalist however after reading countless blogs and articles the creativity of the content has always been visible. I believe that due to the overwhelming content of fashion creativity is an essential skill that will enhance my abilities as not only journalist but also will help with other future endeavours such as an editor or content creator.
- Third Year: Extended Essay, Specialist Journalism 2 – Arts and Entertainment and Transforming Audiences
- The reason why I chose extended essay is because I would like the opportunity to try as many courses as possible to give me as much experience necessary to prepare me for life after university.
- The Arts and Entertainment course is once again a topic that I am interested in as an aspiring fashion and entertainment journalist therefore the topics that this course covers is essential for my progress.
- Transforming Audiences is also a course that piqued my interest as I want to be able to understand what the audience needs are and because as a journalist I am essentially appealing to them, therefore this course will allow me to explore how to approach different types of audiences and how their interests have changed over the years and affected the media industry.
The past few blogs have taught me the importance of dreams and aspirations and the amount of effort I must put in to bring those dreams to realization, however while dreaming and planning are important nothing beats first-hand experience as you learn the most while on the job. The place where I would like to work to gain the necessary experience as a fashion journalist would be at Vanity Fair (as mentioned in my previous blog) as a features assistant or any other type of writing assistant as long as I am able to learn and understand the way a fashion magazine operates and the style it uses to attracts its readers.
While all this planning and preparation is a good thing it essentially falls to me to bring these ideas to life through hard work and determination, however as William Arthur Ward had once said:
“If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it.”
Journal of a Journalist 