Yann Schreiber: "Journalism is a job that chooses you"

I joined the double degree programme after a Bachelor's at the Franco-German European campus in Nancy. During my Masters, I started working as a freelancer at Radio France, where I was later hired right after graduating from Journalism school. I then joined AFP, which was looking for a business correspondent in Frankfurt, after passing the "Bourse AFP", an application procedure for young journalists who want to join Agence France-Press.

When you are a correspondent, you translate a lot: words and sentences, of course, but you also translate between cultures. You have to know how to make national news interesting and relevant for an international audience. Experience abroad clearly makes it easier to understand this and makes you more capable of doing so. The American journalism I learned and experienced at Ohio State, for example, still has an impact on my work today and taught me a lot of things that I still rely on, and that were confirmed at Journalism School afterwards: rigour on sources, clear and direct writing, media law, etc.

I've always loved photography and video. Even in school, I have always been keen to immortalise class trips and events. I have kept this passion for images. I think that a story can be told in several ways, which are often complementary. Video or photos often benefit from a text with contextual information, and a written report gains enormously if it is well illustrated. Journalism today is necessarily multimedia in its consumption, so it is essential to think of these different formats together from the beginning and when you plan stories.

Indeed, I had the chance to teach for a semester on "my" campus in Nancy. It was an elective seminar with some 25 second-year bachelor students. We talked about the place of the media in our society, the challenges and what daily life looks like for journalists. Practical exercises were a big part of the course: the students wrote news stories and imagined the front page of newspapers, and part of the final exam was a simulation of editorial work. I thought it was a great experience – why not do it again when I come back to work in France? The discussions were very interesting and the students' work was of a very high quality. Being on the other side, as a teacher and no longer a student, when it is not that long since you have studied, is a bit strange at first. But I think it also creates a different bond with the students.

My memories of Sciences Po are overwhelmingly positive, although there were inevitably moments of great stress and tension. Spontaneously, I think of the two musicals we put together, the Collegiades sports competitions, but also of some exciting courses – such as Eric Germain's course on political institutions. Whether in Nancy or in Paris, my studies have shaped me professionally and personally.

For me, journalism is one of the most exciting jobs you can imagine: no day is the same, you learn every day and you have the privilege of constantly asking questions. Sometimes, I feel that journalism is not a job you choose, but a job that chooses you. If you are passionate about the world around you, go for it. Be curious, especially about the subjects that attract you the least, to find what you are most passionate about. Read, watch, and stay critical in your media consumption. Don't hesitate to innovate, be proactive and suggest things. Keep in mind that your experience, profile and point of view - different from others - are an asset, because the media world still lacks diversity. You shouldn't be naive either, nor should you accept to sell yourself below your value: the press is in crisis, working conditions are sometimes complicated and you can earn more elsewhere. The hours can be long and the entry into the business often goes through a precarious phase. So you also have to know when and how to turn away from it, if that’s necessary. But above all, don't confuse communication with journalism, nor journalism with commentary.