A constantly useful read is Mindy McAdams 'Teaching Online Journalism' blog, where Mindy talks about what journalists of the future should know.
Though she teaches journalism students, much of what she says is relevant to just about anyone who works in the marketing communications space (certainly in PR and design / ad copywriting), as we ideally should all know how to develop and seed online content.
In one of her most recent posts Mindy started to come up with a shopping list of 'must have' skills, and asked readers to contribute suggestions. How many people joining agencies today would realistically be able to cover off the following:
Mindy's original list:
* Write a 12-inch story (400-450 words) in AP print style w/ Web-appropriate head, subheads and suitable hyperlink(s).
* Create a 2-minute audio clip with clear sound, narration and interview material, edited digitally and compressed for the Web.
* Shoot, edit and compress a video of 2 min. 30 sec.
* Create and maintain a single-subject blog for at least eight weeks (minimum 16 posts), with at least two posts per week.
* Create a 1:30 to 2 min. Soundslides presentation that tells a coherent journalistic story.
And reader suggestions:
* File formats and conversions. So you may know how to shoot a short video, but do you know how to upload it properly?
* A basic understanding of search engine optimisation and key words
* Going about computer generated research in the right away
* Adding charts, data and images into online copy
* Understanding web metrics and data
* The ability to publish for and perform research via rss, integration services such as yahoo pipes
Though I don't necessarily suggest we go to the extent of one newspaper editor who filters out CVs of candidates who don't have a social media presence, it's an interesting list that could form the basis for job interviews and also internal training programmes.
Photo - Crunch Candy
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