NUJ Training: Careers In Journalism
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On-line/New Media

The job
Online publishing is such a new field that there are very few precedents to go on in describing current practice.

Online journalism falls into two broad categories - working on web sites associated with mainstream outlets such as broadcast organisations, established newspapers or corporate communications departments, and working on so-called ‘pure play’ web sites which have no corresponding enterprise in the ‘bricks and mortar’ world.

The latter tend to be staffed by people with rather more of a technical than a journalistic background, while the former are often staffed by journalists drafted in from sister publications or stations. In some cases, journalists will write the paper-based or broad-cast editorial as well as the online material. In short, online journalism involves a combi-nation of traditional journalistic and new-technology skills, although the proportions in which these two are mixed vary enormously.

Much online journalism demands familiarity with ‘content management systems’, used to rapidly update web sites or broadcast SMS messages to mobile phone subscribers. This is similar to working for an agency or wire service.

Career paths
New entrant online journalists are often recruited straight from college or university-based journalism and media studies courses, and employers typically look for evidence of journalistic ability (writing or reporting, say) and an awareness of the technologies involved (for example, a basic understanding of HTML or the ability to use a package such as Dreamweaver).

In some cases, you may be expected to be significantly more competent in technical skills such as Javascript, Java or ASP. If you’re a designer or a photographer, you will certainly be expected to know Photoshop, Illustrator, Fireworks or Flash.

Qualifications
A good degree is useful, but anybody moving into online publishing should obtain training in the technical skills they will require. Very few employers offer this sort of training in-house, but there are a number of independent providers offering short courses or part-time study. The NUJ is one such, but there will be others associated with local colleges, local authorities, the ‘learndirect’ organisation, the WEA or reachable through the BBC’s WebWise campaign.

Increasingly online options are being offered by traditional journalism course providers and one or two training establishments now have dedicated pre-entry/postgraduate courses.
ENDS

Date added: 2006-08-18
Last modified: Friday, August 18, 2006
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