Here’s some advice for budding journalists looking to launch their careers in online newsrooms – learn the basics, reports Poynter Online.
According to a survey by the Online News Association, traditional skills such as news judgement, grammar and style, and ability to work under time pressure are key in online newsrooms.
But what the study also shows is that student journalists must also adopt a multimedia mindset.
From the report:
They must also be able to “think online” – multitasking, awareness of and ability to learn new technologies, understanding of business and revenue issues.Students should be encouraged to publish online. By having their work publicly accessible online, students will be encouraged to think like journalists while also thinking about the implications of working online. Students should also be encouraged to become engaged with online journalism by reading news Web sites, blogs and by learning how and where to keep up to date with latest developments in what is still a young and swiftly evolving field.
The advice to journalism courses like the school were I teach multiplatform journalism at the University of British Columbia is to “replicate the experience of working online with a daily deadline or multiple daily deadlines.”
Ironically, we did an exercise like this in class today. Sounds to me that I should be doing more of these to prepare students for the frantic pace of news in an online environment, where the deadline is always now.
The full report is available to download as a PDF file.
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