Future Jounalist Help (Journalists please)

[HERZstehtSTILL]

Hello
I am currently a sophmore in High school and would like to become a Technology/Games for a magazine journalist (any field of journalism really but that is my favored one) and would like to know...

a)What's it like being a jounalist?
b)What colleges/courses/do you recomend
c)Good paying at all?
d)How do I join a magazine team?

My dream publications are
PC Gamer
Max PC
Official Xbox Magazine

Thank you for your help and support.
If you would like to speak further on this subject please add my MSN (on my home page).

[Jozanny]

Hello
I am currently a sophmore in High school and would like to become a Technology/Games for a magazine journalist (any field of journalism really but that is my favored one) and would like to know...

a)What's it like being a jounalist?
b)What colleges/courses/do you recomend
c)Good paying at all?
d)How do I join a magazine team?

My dream publications are
PC Gamer
Max PC
Official Xbox Magazine

Thank you for your help and support.
If you would like to speak further on this subject please add my MSN (on my home page).

Although basic journalism courses are helpful, if you are going to get anywhere you need to master the query, build your clips, keep a contact list--although I admit my source list is haphazard, and that is how you do it. Journalists who tend toward a specialty may take additional classes on that specialty, in your case, tech and pc.

Journalism is both easy and hard, and I can't explain that really, u have to learn by getting your hands dirty, but it is also a field in transition. MSM is in big trouble and shouldn't be, as I love newspapers, and we are still feeling our way along with online content and blogs...

[aBIGsheep]

Being a Journalist is arduous. It can seem glorified, but don't forget, it's still work.

Journalists are paid crap and have to deal with a lot of crap people.
Take English classes and any Journalism classes that are offered.
If you're going into anything specialized, especially games, you'd best know your stuff.

I don't think you'd want to be a journalist per say, I'd say you'd want to be more of a columnist. You're not paid as much as journalists (because they're definitely makin' a killin') but you'd be published and take part in something that could potentially be read by thousands or millions.
Try writing articles to a local newspaper or magazine. That's probably one of the best places to start and take a dip into the world of writing.