Rozenberg's verdict on journalism: 'Don't do it'

Joshua Rozenberg, Britain's best-known law commentator, says his advice to anyone wanting to be a journalist is "don't".

Rozenberg, writing on the Legal Cheek blog, says:  "If I had known the state that journalism was going to be in now, I would still have devoted the best part of 40 years to it. But I would certainly not advise anyone to go in for it now.

"As a job, it looks very easy: just listen to what someone has to say and summarise it. As a job it is very easy, which is why so many people go into journalism when they have nothing better to do.

"What’s difficult now, though, is getting a job in journalism. With newspapers in rapid decline and the electronic media paying little or nothing to contributors, the chances of making a living out of it – unless you started when I did – are vanishingly small.

"So my advice for anyone seeking to follow in my footsteps is: don’t."