Being a private eye journalist means that you have to be two things at the same time: a journalist and a private eye. As a journalist, you will need to have an eye (and nose!) for news: you need to know how to follow leads, you need to know who to talk to, and you need to know how to get the information you want without letting your source know that he or she is being scrutinized or interrogated. Now, add the requirements of being a private eye: you need to do all these as covertly as possible. So what do you need to do in order to be a private eye journalist?

First, you need to recognize that this is going to be a potentially dirty job, and that you need all the training that you can get. You will need to run a lot, hide a lot, and be physically strong. You can’t draw attention to yourself by being sick or falling ill simply because you couldn’t take the heat in your hideout! You will need more physical stamina, so you will need a lot of fitness classes, as well as classes that allow you to build your strength.

Second, private eye journalists need to know a lot of the facts before they get into the scene, so that they do not draw attention to themselves by asking too many basic, almost obvious questions. This means that you need to know a lot of history, and that you need to be trained in the art of great research. Any graduate student can tell you for a fact that research is rigorous, and you need a lot of practice in going through documents, looking for the facts that count, and recognizing your own biases as a researcher that may cloud your judgment and keep you from seeing the bigger picture.

Third, you need to recognize that being a private eye journalist also means less fame for you. You cannot draw attention to yourself, you need to be non-descript, and all the work that you do, from writing to research to embedding yourself in your surroundings, will mean that you need to do a lot of work that cannot be recognized, at least not immediately.

Last, you need to build your mental stamina and your patience. Find ways to test how long you can wait for things, and how you can still keep your wits about you while doing so. Follow these steps and you can soon become a private eye journalist.

image credits to Kazze

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