Sources confirmed. Check
Headline and dek written. Check.
Online hed crafted. Check
SEO keywords listed. Check
Link list included. Check.
Remember when you used to be able to just write a story and submit it? Those days are over if you’re one of the tens of thousands of writers or editors that has entered the arena of online journalism.
Gone are the days when the technological extent of your career was using the Internet to check a source’s telephone number. You’re probably writing a few extra web-friendly components so you can be found by the billions of people that use the Internet.
The impact of the Internet on journalists has been felt throughout the world. From Journalism schools realigning their curriculum to a Forbes.com Jobs Report citing that Journalism is a dying career, it won’t be too long before we pack up our laptops and head home to rethink that dream that one day we’d be the next Woodward or Bernstein.
But wait! There is one way you can hold on to your job: Write for online as well as for print. Embrace the new media; learn what a wiki is, pen a blog, write daily articles online for your monthly magazine.
And the pay increase for this additional work? Usually nothing but a pat on the back and the hope that you’ll be more employable if you know how to navigate the Internet.
This is a cynical, but somewhat realistic point-of-view of the new approach to journalism. Some embrace it. Some decide to take a different path.
It’s a common debate among journalists these days: do we insist on more dollars to compensate our increased workloads or do you acknowledge that this is journalism redefined.
Posted by Erin Erickson, board member of Chicago ASBPE chapter and national website committee co-chair.
Labels: Career/Employment, Digital, Erin Erickson, Journalism, Salary, Work Life
