There are many types of journalists, from the local beat newspaper reporter to the foreign correspondent, from the magazine feature writer to the freelance book reviewer, so it is difficult to pin down the daily routine of the "average" journalist. Journalists interview sources and review records to assemble, collect, and report information and explore the implications of the facts. Journalism informs, educates, chastises: Don't underestimate the power a journalist holds. Professionals must be able to report quickly and accurately. Over 80 percent of our respondents listed "time pressure" as one of the most distinguishing features of this job. Journalists must have a "point of view" while remaining objective about their subjects, which can be difficult; around half our respondents said that their colleagues sometimes got too involved in the stories. Interpersonal skills, excellent writing skills, and a reporter's instinct (the ability to accurately assess the significance of obscure and incomplete information) are essential to success. The uncertainty of the daily routine makes it difficult to incorporate family, hobbies, and any regularly scheduled plans, but those who detest the predictability of nine-to-five jobs are attracted to journalism because "no day is a carbon copy of the day before." Long hours and chronic deadline pressure can be significantly negative factors. When an editor calls you in on a breaking story, you have to be prepared to drop everything; when you're on deadline, you can get crazed trying to write a complicated story in half the time you need. This "ball and chain" to the offices leads many to resent, and eventually reject, the reporter's life. Some journalists complain about being "Under the thumb of Napoleonic editors who control your every word based on their own taste." Editors are sometimes Napoleonic but more often they are simply perfectionists. Journalists who are precious about their prose rarel...