What you need to be a successful journalist…

I think in today’s internet based world that a successful journalist must be both a strong writer and a strong digital communicator. I agree with Lavrusik’s article on the 8 traits all modern journalists must obtain, in that the role of journalist does not pertain to just a print or broadcast reporter. Rather, it is a role that performs many tasks as it reaches audiences from all over the world using the digital community to reach them. I think it is interesting that certain posts can be considered journalism, while other posts are not. What can be used as a credible source of information when there are so many bloggers out reporting on their own. How do you separate a blogger who wishes to communicate to a massive audience for social reasons, and a blogger who is working towards developing a reputation for trusted reporting?

Journalists now must have strong social media skills, programming skills, and understand the importance of incorporating video, photo, and text together to create an innovative and interactive story for the audience- while maintaining journalistic fundamentals and integrity, of course. It is no longer okay for a reporter to rely on a photographer or a cameraman to capture images to cover the visual communication of a story. Rather, the journalist must learn to tell the story with creativity, and learn to market this product online. With websites and blogs popping and failing constantly there is no security in a blogging job. Not only could a new blog steal your page views, but your audience has an unlimited pool of sources to search within- thus allowing them to be fickle followers. Because of this uncertainty, it seems journalists will need to be working on various projects simultaneously to make a living.

This reading might be missing the idea that journalists will not be writing whatever news they find to be a good story, but rather cater their stories to attracting an audience. Journalists have always hunted for the breaking news, but with the unlimited sites and blogs journalists will need to create a strong niche audience and continually write for their interests. It is a strong step towards marketing, and a step away from old-fashioned journalism.

The second reading on this war between hyperlocal sites and newspapers brought up the idea of newspapers collaborating with hyperlocal sites to create strong stories and reach more readers. This seems to be a strong trend at the moment and I would assume most major newspapers are working towards creating hyperlocal sites to reach their readers more directly; thus, catering to their specific issues in their communities. For example the Chicago Tribune is working on it, and sites such as everyblock.com are becoming more and more popular.