The MFJS Reporter — Winter 2020 M-W

Kareem El Damanhoury is a professor at the University of Denver in the Media, Film and Journalism department. He is also a freelance journalist along with the large workload of the professor duties. He has worked as a producer at CNN International, PBS affiliate channels and networks across Egypt and Jordan. 

“I was a content producer. It had been a dream of mine to work at CNN. When I came to the US I was lucky enough to have a scholarship covering my full masters experience. There are CNN tours, and I always told my friends that I was not going to do a tour because I was adamant that the first day that I enter that building is going to be for a job and not a tour. Whenever I drove downtown and saw CNN I would get goosebumps. My first day was Jan. 3, 2017,” El Damanhoury said.

There are many skills that were required of El Damanhoury when becoming a successful journalist. These entailed the ability to pay attention to detail, be able to accept criticism, work under pressure, solid written and verbal communication skills and much more.

“We write TV scripts, newsgather, make calls and check social media and official sources, coordinate live shots and videos and  manage the live feed. You will be amazed how fast a ten hour shift can go because of how busy you are,” El Damanhoury said.

There is also a multitude of experience that is recommended when beginning a career in journalism.

“One thing that I think is crucial is knowing how to use the camera and how to shoot and operate media. This is something that I think is very important in today’s world because if you are a good storyteller and a good writer and can operate a camera then you will stand out,” El Damanhoury said.

He has also done a wide variety of research work on visual communication, international communication, media and conflict. His main focus is researching how media strategies used by militant groups impacts the emergence of protostate media systems. This led to many polished publications in the International Journal of Communication, Journal of Arab & Muslim Media Research, The Media World of ISIS and many other scholarly journals.

The average entry level salary for a journalist with a bachelor’s degree is $36,986, but if they have more work experience then they could possibly make $39,229 per year, according to College Grad. The pay for strictly freelance journalism is roughly $20,000.

“I loved working at CNN. One thing that I loved was being on top of everything that was happening around the world. The other thing is being part of an organization that is dealing with important and critical information on events that are happening, and also instant gratification for producing and publishing content and watching it on air,” El Damanhoury said.

In 2018, the median pay for reporters, correspondents and broadcast news analysts was $43,490, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

“Journalism is never dead. News will not stop. News is, was and will be a staple for our lives. The thing is how it is going to be told is the main question. News is going to be told anyways; it is just a matter of how it is going to be told, packaged, produced and disseminated,” El Damanhoury said.