Journalists Don’t Need to Know How to Sharpen Pencils Anymore

It is often quoted that at its heart, journalism is storytelling (CubReporters, 2010).  From the cave paintings of 35,000BCE (Mark, 2011) to the digital publications of today, technology advancements change communications, each bringing with it requirements for new skills. In the past ten years, digital technology has accelerated changes in the landscape of skills needed by communicators (Finberg, 2014, para. 31).  One way is in the skills required to support these recent advancements in technology.  Whatever the field of communication, media, platform, or language, the need to effectively tell a story today includes understanding the skills of a multimedia environment.  

A 2013 article published by the International Center for Journalists featured International Journalism Fellow James Breiner.  In it he explains the current job market demands students applying for jobs must know:
• Multimedia storytelling skills. Producing slideshows with sound, shooting
        and editing video and photos, writing for the web.
• Data and statistical skills for storytelling. Collecting, editing, analyzing and
        interpreting data to produce compelling interactive maps and graphics.
• Audience development skills (formerly known as marketing and circulation)
        such as managing online communities, interpreting data on audience
        behavior, crowdsourcing for information, interacting with the audience.
• Basics of programming. How to create compelling pages that attract web
        audiences.

Two experts back up Mr. Breiner.  Texas State University School of Journalism and Mass Communication Professor Cindy Royal (2013) advocates the need for a digital-first curriculum for journalism.  “What I am proposing is a curriculum in which digital is the foundation, and the basic skills of writing, reporting and editing are injected into digitally focused courses, as opposed to inserting a digital lesson or two into traditional classes"(Breiner, 2013).  NPR news application editor Brian Boyer’s declared: “No print design. Done” (as cited in Royal ,2013, para. 02).

Another change is the significant increase in digital publications, which has had a correlated decline in both print media and jobs in print media.  In the 2014 Poynter Institute for Media Studies report, co-author Howard Finberg (2014) explains:

Print media have lost 16,000 jobs in the past decade, a drop of almost 30 percent, according to the American Society of News Editors, reported in the Pew State of the News Media 2014 report. The survivors are expected to take on new digital-focused tasks. In the same time frame, Pew [Pew Research Center] estimates that about 5,000 new journalism jobs have been created — in digital-only news outlets … It seems obvious that digital skills are essential for any journalist who wants to succeed in the 21^st century. (2014, para. 21).

Journalists don’t need to sharpen their pencils, but they definitely need to sharpen their digital media skills!

Read the entire 2014 Poynter report here

Watch the webinar review of the 2014 Poynter report by co-authors Howard Finberg and Lauren Klinger here: Core Skills for the 21st Century Journalist

References

Breiner, J. (2013, September 04). Skills every aspiring journalist should learn. Retrieved August 04, 2015, from International Journalists Network: https://ijnet.org/en/blog/skills-every-aspiring-journalist-should-learn

CubReporters. (2010, February 10). Journalism history. Retrieved August 04, 2015, from SlideShare: http://www.slideshare.net/cubreporters/journalism-history

Finberg, H. (2014, April 13). Journalism needs the right skills to survive. Retrieved August 04, 2015, from The Poynter Institute: http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/journalism-education/246563/journalism-needs-the-right-skills-to-survive/

Mark, J. (2011, April 28). Writing. Retrieved August 04, 2015, from Ancient History Encyclopedia: http://www.ancient.eu/writing/

Royal, C. (2013, August 08). We need a digital-first curriculum to teach modern journalism. Retrieved August 06, 2015, from Media Shift: http://mediashift.org/2013/08/we-need-a-digital-first-curriculum-to-teach-modern-journalism