Tag Archives: Skillset

Survey attempts to track the changing skills of online journalists

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We know that many journalists today aim to have a finger in every multimedia pie – a ‘print’ journalist wants to understand how to communicate by video or audio, while online reporters should be prepared to build and manage online communities.

The Online Journalism Review is running a simple survey to measure this changing skillset of modern-day online journalists.

A few points, before we get to the vote: First, I’m just going to assume that everyone’s got basic reporting, text writing and copy editing, so those aren’t listed as options. Next, I do not wish to infer that everyone needs to develop all of these skills. Many journalists continue to work in newsrooms where they are expected to specialize. And even independent journalists often can rely on networks, contractors, vendors and open source solutions to cover many of their publishing needs. So if you don’t want help with a particular skill, just leave the box next to it blank.

But the more skills you develop, the more freedom and flexibility you have as a journalist in the online publishing market. I know personally OJR readers who’ve mastered each of the skills listed below, so if you do want to add more to your journalism repertoire, your fellow readers have the capacity to help.

The results already make for interesting reading, with the growing importance of good images and strong communities online reflected in the statistics – so far rated the two top skills mastered by journalists during their career

See the full post here…

Put your questions to Skillset about training bursaries for freelancers

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Skillset, the media industry skills council, is answering questions about its new multi-platform training bursary for broadcast journalists today, as part of an online Q&A session.

You can put your questions to Alice Dudley, TV fund manager at Skillset, via the Guardian’s career section forum.

The multi-platform bursaries offer a grant of up to £800 for freelancers with an interest in working in broadcasting to spend on a range of 38 pre-selected, foundation-level courses, including an introductory course on social media and shooting video for the web.

To be eligible for a bursary, candidates must demonstrate either professional experience in the UK TV industry or the wider creative media industries with a view to working solely in TV or in broadcasting as part of a multimedia role.

There are 500 places available as part of the scheme.

Skillset’s report digested: Is there a skills gap amongst new journalism recruits?

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As reported yesterday, Skillset, the training and skills organisation for creative industries, has released a new report suggesting a critical skills gap in new journalism recruits to the newspaper and magazine industries. The new report is a culmination of year-long research and suggests the gap has been exposed by the advancement of digital technology in the sectors.

Some key reactions and findings of the research are rounded up below:

  • Skillset commented in the Guardian that traditional skills are ‘becoming even more important so that customers are prepared to pay for high quality content’.
  • The latest multimedia and technical skills are critical to freelancers in the current environment, the report suggested.
  • The general message from the report is that journalists need to adapt to the huge impact that the recession and technological change have had on the publishing industry. A spokesperson from Skillset spoke to Journalism.co.uk about the importance of applying core skills such as editing and interviewing to new technical skills. Skillset also place an emphasis on creativity and the importance of flexiblity.
  • An additional survey previously published by the body,  the Convergence Journalism Skills survey, discusses how in the future the merging worlds of print, radio, TV and online will require journalists to be confident working across these different platforms.
  • Skillset’s executive director of policy and development, Kate O’Connor, quoted in Guardian, said training can be one of the first things neglected in difficult financial times.  O’Connor underlined the importance of investing in the future. She also pointed out how vital it is for journalists to learn these new digital skills ‘if the industry is to survive and thrive’.
  • Loraine Davies, director of the Periodical Training Council, told Journalism.co.uk ‘that graduates from the 14 PTC accredited journalism courses have all the skills they need to make a meaningful contribution to the brand from the outset’.
  • But Davies recognised that students key skills are not at the expected level when they begin their courses. The solution? ”More must be done earlier in the education process to ensure students have grasped the basics.”

There appears to be a consensus among professionals that skills training needs to be revised in order for journalists to compete and succeed in this developing media industry. One of the key messages to journalists in the Skillset report was not only to fine tune their core and technological skills, but to be flexible and adapt well to change.

As Gail Rebuck, Skillset board member, told the Guardian: “It is important that the industry understands and moves with the market so the skills gap this report has identified does not continue to grow.”

Related: The National Council for the Training of Journalists’ (NCTJ) skills survey from November last year.