Is it practical to double major in film and journalism?

Roswell: Is it practical to double major in film and journalism?
I have declared a double major in film and journalism in order to pursue avenues of work that I know I will enjoy but many people are telling me it is impractical to double major in two things that don’t significantly enhance the other major (such as Journalism and Broadcasting; Film & Broadcasting; Film & Photography; English and Film, etc.) Do you think that I will inevitably forego one field for the other and later on look back and believe that I wasted my money on school? Input? Advise? Has anyone else done this?

Answers and Views:

Answer by MMM
I double majored in TV Production and Journalism with tons of ambition, high hopes for great creative work, etc. etc. I had even minored in Graphic Arts as a back-up.

Guess what? Hope you’re doing it for a Pulitzer or some other award and couldn’t care less about money. Doesn’t pay worth doodlie unless you are the 1 and 1/2 percent of grads in those fields who stick it out for decades to get high paying management jobs or the even fewer grads who get hired by ILM or Disney Imagineering, etc. etc.

I went back to school late (at 25) and graduated top of my class in 2000 from a great university. I paid for it all myself and I did 3 internships, one of them with the state legislature’s tv channel and another with the top-ranked news station in my top-15 market city. I had great aspirations, great referrels and references……thought it would all be challenging and fun work. I even got hired right away with better than average pay running a local cable station’s production studio–a recent college-grad’s dream job.

My complaint? Pay’s lousy for too long in the industry. I worked nights for a large shipping company while going to school and by the time I had graduated, I made far more at my blue collar job than I’d make in 10 years in the TV/Journalism field. Unfortunately for me, I had obligations and couldn’t just throw it all away to pursue my academic interests. I actually had a high level manager at both news station and cable jobs approach me with job offers in management due to my lengthy work experience in mid-level management, recruitment, and training. I was valued more for that to them than for my excruciatingly expensive academic degree. I regret every day that I did not research average salaries and job opportunities in the field more while I still had choices left open to me.

I still make more than great money as operating manager of a general contracting firm–and I even love the work, since it is my fiancee’s business and we’re making a great successful run of things right now. I get to use my graphic arts knowledge fairly frequently designing our ads, t-shirts, flyers, etc., but I’m not kidding myself–it is my talent for finance, accounting, and people management that secures me the big bucks. However, I am still nostalgic about my wasted degree and still plan to go back for my master’s someday soon. My advice to you is to take a serious look at the job openings and salary averages in your area and then a look into your own finances. How long are you willing to be poor? I only have one friend from college still working in the biz and she only makes 15 dollars an hour 7 years later. The rest of us bailed for higher paying work in other fields.

Good luck.