The three words, I study journalism, are generally met with a vague smile, a generic “how cool” or the bravest of the responses a laugh accompanied by “you’re not going to get a job”. This is a comment driven by the shrinking newspaper and the even smaller attention span of the average human, which is close to contesting that of a gold fish, and a failure to notice the way in which journalism is evolving. The many new platforms on which to break news, or any form of journalism, and plentiful ways in which to present it create the need for a journalist who can do it all.
In saying this I do not believe that all journalists must be incredible over-achievers. I think that the core values of the modern journalist should be an open mind and creativity while keeping clarity of the truth. I know that I am sounding like quite the philosophical journalism student, half way through my degree with no work to speak of. But being open to learning new forms of media allow for more people to understand the way they work, know how to best produce journalism and bring more ideas on how to best use each medium.
The example of Rappler, an Indonesian news site, really brings my argument together, as it has become successful by using its contributions and the technology that is available to work with the ‘traditional’ journalists’ skills. They have built the site its own interactive space and used the two faces of online media to its advantage. As easy as it is to say that we need open mindedness and later yell at my computer because the internet won’t connect, because yes it is the computers fault, I think an open mind is vital to the modern journalist for any kind of creative use of media to come about. Without a creative and engaging use of online media, let’s be honest, the world will be too busy watching season 7 of Game of Thrones instead.
