It's Time for Journalists to Breathe and Reboot

In 2024, you can’t say the word media without placing the word social before it. As the digital age changed and the internet became more readily accessible to everyday people, the emergence of social media was a predictable consequence. But as young journalists enter a changing media landscape where news is conveniently at your fingertips, there are things to consider professionally to make the most of it. 

Anyone Can Publish Content

On social media, anyone can publish news content, blurring the lines

between traditional journalism and content creation. This led to a stronger need for journalists to prove themselves. Where have you worked? Have you been published by a credible publication? Who are your sources? Because anyone can say whatever they want under the guise of journalism, there is an emerging pressure to demonstrate expertise to be taken seriously. On the flip side, some young journalists have embraced social media, using it to grow their following, eventually garnering attention that helps them get jobs. Young journalists now have to navigate this fine line between publishing their own content and proving their expertise through traditional means while building a modern career in journalism.  

News Consumers Are An Active Audience

An “active audience” looks at news consumers not as people who passively consume news but instead as people who are active in their consumption. Social Media has in part influenced the role of the consumer to become more active because it allows people to comment, repost, share, and stitch videos to give their opinion on it. The news is not just something to become informed on, but instead something that people are actively a part of. This means that journalists need to not just think of themselves as a messenger, but instead as someone saying the first sentence in a conversation. There will be a response to your work, and you have to prepare for that. 

Journalists Need New Skills

Due to the importance of social media in everyday news consumption, journalists need a different skill set than they once did. Writers like me no longer just need to write but to know photography, graphic design, content creation, video editing, and a million other skills to keep up with the multimedia style people consume news in. If you aren’t diversifying your skills as a journalist, you’re already falling behind. 

With social media and the emergence of AI, it's true that journalism is changing every day. But journalism will never disappear because at its core it's about telling people’s stories, and the need for human connection will never go away. All we can do as journalists is roll with the punches, and learn to use new technology as quickly as it's thrown at us. 

As the columnist herself Carrie Bradshaw says, “The best we can do is breathe and reboot.”

Banner photo provided by Travis Wise via Creative Commons