Journalists seem to always be taking it on the chin. If it isn’t that their craft is dying (which I don’t think is true) or their publications are failing (okay that one is true), now it’s that in order to be agile journalists, keep employed, and be relevant they need to be programers too? Wow, harsh.
As the news industry looks to reconstruct its suffering business model, the journalists of today must reconstruct their skill sets for the growing world of online media. Because of cutbacks at many news organizations, the jobs available are highly competitive. News companies are seeking journalists who are jacks of all trades, yet still masters of one (or more).
2010 will likely be a time of transition as today’s journalists catch up to learn the multimedia, programming, social media, and business skills they’ll need to tell their stories online. These new skills are especially relevant to startups that are looking to hire multi-skilled and social media-savvy journalists. Below we’ve gathered some skills that are quickly becoming basic requirements for the journalist of tomorrow.
Okay, I give, I’m blowing this a just a wee out of proportion, but I think what is more accurate is that journalists just need to adapt to the new tools, outlets, and opportunities that social media and Web 2.0 bring to them. Gillian Shaw of the Sun and Mathew Ingram of the Globe & Mail epitomize the transition that journalists have needed to make in order to stay on top of the game. Fine, both Gillian and Mathew are tech reporters and friends, but still both of them keep up, experiment with new toys and tools, and I don’t think I’ve heard either of them kvetch about the state of their papers. I’m sure they both think about the state of their papers, but I suspect that they both see that a nice, steady transition to providing more and more content online (and in some cases online-only content) for their papers is the place to be.
While I do write a column for the Vancouver Observer, I think of myself as a padawan journalist. I have a lot to learn about how to “do it right”, but I’m catching on I think. Regardless, I think what is a more apt prediction is that journalists, like all knowledge workers, need to continue to hone skills, learn new technologies, and adapt to an ever-changing sea of technology. In the end, yes, the tech ninjas will rule the roost. The people in the newsroom who can have google search results waiting for them at their desks because they did a google search on their smartphone (or netbook) in a story meeting or know enough to set up their own hosting account and unleash a myriad of tools like Fever and Yahoo Pipes onto the Internet to be their own personal info minions, those are the journalists (and knowledge workers) who will rock the news world in the years to come.
Hmm, maybe I should trade some journalism mentoring from Gillian for showing her some advanced info ninja skills…
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