A journalist, not a newspaper(wo)man

It’s a question that hangs on the lips of every impending journalism school graduate (including this one): what’s the outlook?
The answer, according to Joe Grimm, a visiting journalist at the Michigan State University School of Journalism, is that the industry is changing, but that doesn’t mean journalism will die anytime soon.

As Grimm writes on Poynter Online: I am much more optimistic — even excited — about the future of journalism than I am about the chances for any single medium.

He assures an inquiring student that doubling the skills you have learned is essential. Yes, multimedia and online skills will be infinitely more important and we will be need to become “journalistic entrepeneurs” in this ever-changing industry. The result: as journalists, we will have to be “in a constant state of metamorphosis”.

Be wary of any company that wants to tie you up in the way things used to be done, writes Grimm. That sounds like a suicide pact.

So take what you have learned, get better, have skills, and grab the reigns. “Young people will be thrust into leadership roles.”
Are you ready for it?