Starting in QA to try to break in as journalist? (and a blog question)

[The_Dan_x]

Like many of you here, I'm pretty passionate about gaming and I would love to write about games for a living. It wasn't until very recently that I considered it as a serious career choice. Now I am just trying to think of ways to build up a good resume for getting in as a journalist at some time in the future. Would entering a gaming company in QA be a good idea? The way I see it, by working in QA, I would get pretty good insight as to how things work on the technical side of the industry. What do you guys think? Would that be a good idea or a waste of time?

Also, in regards to blogging, I have recently (very recently) vowed to write at least 5 blogs a week. I post my blogs via the blogging feature on IGN.com. I know IGN isn't solely about blogs, but are there better blogging website or hosts that I should use? When applying for a job as journalist, would it look better if I was using a different domain or host rather than IGN?

Thanks a bunch, guys!

[Mariol]

Tbh I don't think it matters what blogging site you use as long as your posts are informative, shows your style of writing, is spelled correctly, is grammatically correct and you try to aim your posts at the areas you want to write about in the future. Good luck!

[Loicus]

Absolutely, I think it's always better to have your own blog. You should try websites like blogspot & co.

It's better to have <myname>.blogspot.com in my opinion.

As for the journalistic part, there's nothing better than writing articles. It can be thoughts, reviews, tests, news, etc...I don't think QA is the best way to break in as a journalist.
I've written several tests and articles for French game websites, including pro and "semi-pro" (still amateur, but on their way to becoming pro...) ones. It's probably the best way to get a feeling of what you'll do as a journalist plus to get experience.

So find an active games website to write articles, start a gaming blog, and write!

Good Luck

P.S:a degree in journalism is always more shiny on a resume too...