How Digital Tech Changed What it Takes to be a Journalist
Sixty years ago, all one needed to call themselves a journalist was a tiny notebook, keen people skills, and an overzealous desire to seek and report the truth.
Sixty years later, the only thing those skills will get you is unemployed.
Digital technologies have completely changed what it takes to be a journalist today. Employers and journalism professionals recognize the importance of employing journalists who have the skills necessary to utilize this new media. The ability to navigate a minefield of online information, manage social media accounts, and create digital content are all skills that the new age journalist is expected to have.
"According to research from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford, social media is used each week by more than half (51%) of online news consumers to find, discuss and share, news content," (Radcliffe, 2016).
Most communications/journalism students are expected to take at least one course that is centered on digital media. I for one, have taken more "digital media" courses than I can even count. And while these courses may not provide all of the training a journalist may need, they help create classes of students who are, at the very least, familiar with digital media technologies. And there are other ways a professional can hone their digital media skills. Here, in Cleveland, Ohio, the local community college, Cuyahoga Community College offers a Short Term Certificate in Social Media Marketing. These kinds of courses and credentials can help journalism professionals from the entry to expert level, gain knowledge and tools that are not just necessary, but expected.
Reference
Radcliffe, Damian. “Seven Ways Tech Is Changing Journalism and News Consumption.” HuffPost UK, 20 June 2016, www.huffingtonpost.co.uk.
Sixty years later, the only thing those skills will get you is unemployed.
Digital technologies have completely changed what it takes to be a journalist today. Employers and journalism professionals recognize the importance of employing journalists who have the skills necessary to utilize this new media. The ability to navigate a minefield of online information, manage social media accounts, and create digital content are all skills that the new age journalist is expected to have.
"According to research from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford, social media is used each week by more than half (51%) of online news consumers to find, discuss and share, news content," (Radcliffe, 2016).
Most communications/journalism students are expected to take at least one course that is centered on digital media. I for one, have taken more "digital media" courses than I can even count. And while these courses may not provide all of the training a journalist may need, they help create classes of students who are, at the very least, familiar with digital media technologies. And there are other ways a professional can hone their digital media skills. Here, in Cleveland, Ohio, the local community college, Cuyahoga Community College offers a Short Term Certificate in Social Media Marketing. These kinds of courses and credentials can help journalism professionals from the entry to expert level, gain knowledge and tools that are not just necessary, but expected.
Reference
Radcliffe, Damian. “Seven Ways Tech Is Changing Journalism and News Consumption.” HuffPost UK, 20 June 2016, www.huffingtonpost.co.uk.
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