By Maria DesRochers

CHAPTER 1: WHAT ARE ESSENTIAL

SKILLS?

ONLINE JOURNALISM: THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE

Face constant, rapid change in working practices caused by new technologies

Learn a lot from those with expertise in computing

Become jugglers and cope with competing demands of our times

Learn about the media business and how content can generate revenue

Understand statistics

Understand the traditions and importance of journalism – it’s the story that matters most

THE MULTIMEDIA MINDSET

1. Journalism’s fi rst obligation is to the truth2. Its fi rst loyalty is to citizens3. Its essence is a discipline of fact checking and

accuracy 4. Its practitioners must maintain an independence

from those they cover5. It must serve an independent monitor of power6. It must provide a forum for public criticism and

compromise7. It must strive to make significant events interesting

and relevant 8. It must keep the news comprehensive and

proportional 9. Its practitioners must be allowed to exercise their

personal conscious

9 PRINCIPLES OF JOURNALIST VALUES

Describes a coming together of two or more things

‘Convergence refocuses journalism to its core mission – to inform the public about its world in the best way possible. But nowadays, the best way is not just one way: newspaper or television or the internet. The best is a multiple media way.’

-- Janet Kolodzy

CONVERGENCE

Ownership convergence

Tactical convergence

Structural convergence

Information gathering convergence

Storytelling or presentation convergence

Technological convergence

Economic convergence

TYPES OF CONVERGENCE

Multi-skilled and can act as camera workers, sound recordists, and photographers

Often tweet or blog

Mobile smartphone and tablet devices are predicted to become the primary platform for the consumption of entertainment content, leap-frogging both television and the computer screen

- 13% PC- 82% mobile

Tyga and Tunisia

MOBILE JOURNALISM

Create contentShift WorkPublic relations and other corporate work

Create professional website that advertises skillsComment on blogs, etc. to make your name known

MEDIA BUSINESS - FREELANCE

Social news gatherer that engages users online on news sites, blogs and social media to generate news tips, research stories and gain feedback

A new model – No longer a Journalist-audience relationship Ongoing conversation with audiences using social media

tools “it’s well worth thinking about how you can involve the

readers at every stage of the news reporting and production process”

SOCIAL JOURNALIST

Gained recognition after WikiLeaks scandal in 2010

“This [Data Journalism] should be a tool in the toolkit of any journalist: whether learning how to work with data directly, or collaborating with someone who can.” – Cynthia O’Murchu

Stories can come from data that leaves you suspicious

Report on what the data means

Familiarize yourself with data tools like spreadsheets, GoogleMaps, Yahoo! Pipes

DATA JOURNALISM