Digital technology hasn’t just changed the way we do journalism. It has created a new information ecosystem.
Journalists today need to be navigators in this realm. And to navigate, one has to know the lay of the land and be comfortable operating in it.
I previously wondered what online journalists need to know now. I now wonder why we don’t lose the distinction of “online” journalist. Every journalist, editor, news navigator, media professional needs to know online. And digital. (Because we’re not limited to browsers anymore.)
I’m thinking this way after speaking to the Illinois Press Association’s annual convention. And because I was scheduled to speak at the Pacific Northwest Association of Journalism Educators conference this morning (but, regretfully, I will have to miss).
The topic in Illinois was “evolution and revolution in today’s changing newsrooms.” The topic in Easton was “what do today’s journalism students need to know?”
When you add those together, you get this: if you want to do journalism, you have to be digital.
Mindy McAdams was spot on recently with her assessment of basic skills to teach the next journalists.
But to truly be digital, to be part of this new ecosystem, you need to follow the advice Elizabeth Osder recently delivered to a group of students at USC:
“… be relevant and useful versus arrogant and entitled.”
Too often we are caught up in the technology and skills needed today, when it’s really a mindset that is most important. If you are committed to being relevant and useful in a digital world, figuring out how use RSS and build a Soundlides slideshow comes pretty easy.
Way to go, Elizabeth. Thanks for giving us all a new mantra to pass on.
And a tip of the hat to Amy Gahran for this link. See her comments here.
Mark Briggs 
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