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Inspiration to encourage journalism students as they start their first blogs.
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Why should journalism students blog?
Donica MensingSept 2013
Jour 320: University of Nevada, Reno
I am often asked what it takes to be a great reporter in the digital era. The essential mission, I say, remains the same: to observe, collect and interpret information. Don’t be a generalist; pick a subject, dig deep into it, bring “passion” to the job. That word evokes the obligatory question about objectivity. My response: journalism has always entailed biases, conscious or not. Next, a great reporter engages one-on-one with news consumers, joins social news streams, learns to be a marketer and plays with the technology. I end with this: understand the business models behind the profession — and start to think like an entrepreneur.
What's It Take To Be A Great Reporter Today? Here Are 4 Leading The WayLewis DVorkin, Inside Forbes
The Web is not about great writing, it’s about great information. Reporters can supply that to digital consumers who have voracious news appetites. The mission of journalism is to inform — to observe, collect and interpret. Journalists can do that.
Inside Forbes: 10 Questions From Journalism Students About the Future of NewsLewis DVorkin
What skills do you look for in a reporter today? Well, it’s far more than making phone calls, writing a story and going home. We’re betting on the individual, and that means the individual must accept more accountability. They need to write the story, the headline, publish, market and promote themselves across the social Web and engage one-on-one with their readers. Yes, a reporter needs to respond to comments. They also need to understand the data that tells them who’s reading what they write and why. They need to find their information ecosystem and wade into it to build an audience.
Inside Forbes: 10 Questions From Journalism Students About the Future of NewsLewis DVorkin
DO WHAT YOU LOVE (NO EXCUSES)!
Gary Vaynerchuk- Video/TED
For me, blogging has transformed from a revision-avoiding-hobby into a career changer. It has got me work, training and speaking gigs, and a bit of money. I’ve seen my readers start small, before growing by more than 10,000 visits a month in just twelve months...Although it has never made me a penny directly, blogging is a huge part of the work I do, which is why I think almost all journalists need to blog–about something.
Adam Westbrook - Link
The thing about blogging is that it forces you to stop throat-clearing, its chatty, provisional nature mandates simplicity and clarity, and it punishes long-winded guff. I’ve found that the writing skills of interns improve much faster with blogging than they did with old media writing – and I’m lucky enough to have witnessed both in action as a one-time editor of The New Republic and as the pied piper of the Dish.
Andrew SullivanLink
“MAKE IT SOMETHING A SPECIFIC GROUP OF PEOPLE MIGHT ACTUALLY WANT TO READ.”
The secret? According to Adam Westbrook:
Last but not least – the student journalists.You have no excuse. Get a blog. Get writing. Get used to it. Blog about what you’re learning, or what you want to learn. Use it to get involved in the debate about the future of journalism.Or even better, if you know your future niche, get writing about it straightaway. It takes at least 18 months of awesome content to really build a following and reputation so use your student time to do that.The aim: to either become the next Josh Halliday, Michelle Minkoff or Dave Lee and have your blog catapult you into a job at the Guardian, Washington Post or BBC; or have established yourself as a leading expert in your field of interest by the time you graduate, so you can power straight into independent work.
Adam Westbrook - Link
Upworthy: Things that matter“If you’re not feeling it, don’t write it”: Upworthy’s social success depends on gut-checking “regular people”
Nieman Lab (with video)
