Criminal Justice and JournalismBy Kirsten Kaiser

The career options

Criminal Justice• Border patrol agent• Bounty hunter• Crime scene investigator• Customs agent• Federal special agent• Game warden• Law enforcement officer• Military police• *Police detective• Private investigator• Security officer• Sociologist• Criminal profiler

Journalism• Broadcast journalism• Photojournalism• Sports journalism• Investigative journalism• Communications• Social media• Public relations• Visual communication• Technical writing• Copywriter• Editor• *Newspaper reporter• Freelance writer

Police Detective

• Police detectives are ununiformed officers who help out during investigations. Typically, police detectives start out as patrol officers. Also, like uniformed police officers, detectives are often called upon to testify in court to support a prosecution’s case against an offender.

Newspaper reporter

• A reporter investigates and delivers news stories. He or she conducts interviews, observes events and does research to get all the facts about a story after getting a lead or tip. Then the reporter either writes up the story which will be published in a newspaper.

Working conditions

Police Detective• Long hours• Stressful and demanding• May travel extensively• Can be very dangerous

Newspaper reporter• A reporters job is usually

hectic. • Working space may vary• Covering wars, political

uprisings, fires, floods, and similar events is often dangerous. 

• Working hours vary• Some may travel

training/qualifications

Police detective• Usually a parole officer

first• Police academy training• On-the-job training• 2-5 years of employment

News Reporter• 4 year degree• experience

Earnings

Police detective• Salary may vary. Some jobs

may include a bonus but the average ranges from $33,256-$96,330

News Reporter• Salary may vary. Some jobs

may include a bonus and profit sharing, but the average salary ranges between $21,374- $65,216

Criminal Justice (police detective

Lake Superior State Univeristy

• Their criminal justice program is one of their biggest programs. They have a criminalistics lab and on site shooting range. Lake State offers one of the few law enforcement track programs in the state of Michigan. Students graduating from this program will leave the university MCOLES certifiable.

Jounalism (News reporter)

Central Michigan University

• They have several different majors in journalism, including 3 new ones. • Online Journalism Major• Photojournalism Major• Advertising Major• News Editorial Concentration• Public Relations Concentration

Similarities

Police Detective and News reporter

• Write Reports• Work hours vary• Works in the field and in the office• Solve problems and gather information

Differences

Criminal Justice• Works to solve crime• May have several

different training and qualifications to enter

News reporter• Writes about crime and

other stories• May have several

different degrees to enter

What I prefer…

Police Detective

• The idea of solving an issue is more appealing than writing about one• They have the ability to make more money• There are many advancement opportunities• There are a lot more degrees that you could get

Work Cited• “New Reporter Average Salary.” PayScale. 14 November 2013.Web. 21 November

2013. http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=News_Reporter/Salary

• Ted Gest. “Convering Crime and Justice Introduction. Crime and Justice. November 2007. Web. 21 November 2013http://justicejournalism.org/justnews/crimeguide/intro.html

• Anna Windermere. “Working conditions for Detectives.” Chron. Web. 21 November 2013. http://work.chron.com/working-conditions-detectives-15295.html