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Workshop Registration
The Reynolds Center has announced its 2009-10 free workshop schedule.
Select a workshop and register from the drop-down menu below.
Online Seminars
The Reynolds Center registration for Fall 2009 free online seminars.
The Power of Details
By Dick Weiss
The New Skill Set
By Chris Roush
Looking for Freelance Work?
By Reynolds Center Staff
Reynolds Center Seeks Web Managing Editor
By Reynolds Center Staff
The Business Treatment
By Jeff Bailey
The New Skill Set
By Chris Roush
May 20, 2009
As we all know, the world of journalism – and business journalism – is changing before our eyes. What made money and attracted readers in the past no longer works.
That means the people working in business journalism – and yes, the people teaching business journalism as well – have to change too. Just to show you that an old dog can learn new tricks, I learned how to download video onto Web sites this week.
That experience got me to thinking – what will the business journalist of today, and tomorrow, need in his or her skill set to not only survive, but to thrive, in the future world of media?
Here’s my list:
- Let’s go ahead and get the basics out of the way. Besides knowing how to report and write, a business journalist should always know how to read a financial statement and find a story in the numbers. That should almost go without saying.
- A business journalist should know what public records are available for both public and private companies. Many are good on the former; most are lacking on the latter.
- A business journalist needs to know how to blog. If you’ve never used WordPress or Blogger or any of the other various blogging software now is the time to learn.
- Are you on Twitter? The top business journalists are using it to connect to their readers in ways newspapers and other traditional media can’t.
- Video and audio skills are a must. Not only will you be taking notes while interviewing someone for a story, but you will also need to shoot video or audio of that person as well to download onto your organization’s site. Learning Flash will help here.
- Did I mention downloading? If you can do this, then you’re one step ahead of the person at the desk next to you when it comes time for the next round of layoffs.
- Some HTML coding experience will help. I’m not asking you to know enough coding to create a new Web site. But I do think it’s valuable to know how to add links, make a word or phrase italics or bold, or to indent a paragraph.
This is by no means a complete list. But it’s one that every business journalist who has a job, and those who are looking for a job in business journalism, should accomplish if they want to stay in the field.
Of course, new technologies and advances will make this list obsolete in five years. Next time you see something come out that’s a fad, try it out to see how it can help you be a better business reporter.
Unfortunately, business journalism is no longer just covering companies and the economy. We’ve got to make ourselves more of a multi-tasker.
Email this article
Copyright © 2009 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism
The Reynolds Center has announced its 2009-10 free workshop schedule.
Select a workshop and register from the drop-down menu below.
The Reynolds Center registration for Fall 2009 free online seminars.
By Dick Weiss
The New Skill Set
By Chris Roush
Looking for Freelance Work?
By Reynolds Center Staff
Reynolds Center Seeks Web Managing Editor
By Reynolds Center Staff
The Business Treatment
By Jeff Bailey
The New Skill Set
By Chris Roush
May 20, 2009
As we all know, the world of journalism – and business journalism – is changing before our eyes. What made money and attracted readers in the past no longer works.
That means the people working in business journalism – and yes, the people teaching business journalism as well – have to change too. Just to show you that an old dog can learn new tricks, I learned how to download video onto Web sites this week.
That experience got me to thinking – what will the business journalist of today, and tomorrow, need in his or her skill set to not only survive, but to thrive, in the future world of media?
Here’s my list:
- Let’s go ahead and get the basics out of the way. Besides knowing how to report and write, a business journalist should always know how to read a financial statement and find a story in the numbers. That should almost go without saying.
- A business journalist should know what public records are available for both public and private companies. Many are good on the former; most are lacking on the latter.
- A business journalist needs to know how to blog. If you’ve never used WordPress or Blogger or any of the other various blogging software now is the time to learn.
- Are you on Twitter? The top business journalists are using it to connect to their readers in ways newspapers and other traditional media can’t.
- Video and audio skills are a must. Not only will you be taking notes while interviewing someone for a story, but you will also need to shoot video or audio of that person as well to download onto your organization’s site. Learning Flash will help here.
- Did I mention downloading? If you can do this, then you’re one step ahead of the person at the desk next to you when it comes time for the next round of layoffs.
- Some HTML coding experience will help. I’m not asking you to know enough coding to create a new Web site. But I do think it’s valuable to know how to add links, make a word or phrase italics or bold, or to indent a paragraph.
This is by no means a complete list. But it’s one that every business journalist who has a job, and those who are looking for a job in business journalism, should accomplish if they want to stay in the field.
Of course, new technologies and advances will make this list obsolete in five years. Next time you see something come out that’s a fad, try it out to see how it can help you be a better business reporter.
Unfortunately, business journalism is no longer just covering companies and the economy. We’ve got to make ourselves more of a multi-tasker.
Copyright © 2009 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism