Mindy McAdams has long been an early adopter of new technologies and storytelling strategies for journalists. The University of Florida educator is the Knight Chair for Journalism Technologies and the Democratic Process and she has trained hundreds of journalists in digital skills.
At the World Journalism Education Conference in Paris, she was challenged to consider the essential skills for journalists that will sustain them into the future. Here is her list of eight:
- Numeracy + data literacy. “Journalists should know how to question research,” McAdams said. “This is not doing math, this is developing quantitative skills.”
- Listening. Journalists spend a lot of time asking questions, but McAdams said they need to do a better job of listening to people “especially those unlike yourself.”
- Collaborate with others who have skill sets that you don’t. “Journalists are constantly working in teams and doing that well requires practice and skill.”
- Know public records rules. “You should know how to submit public records requests and how to get results.”
- Correctly assess the credibility of source material. In an age of “fake news” and “spin doctors,” verification skills are critical to the work of a journalist.
- Create an information network that feeds new ideas. McAdams says this is about building yourself social feeds or interacting with people that bring you new and unusual information about lots of different topics.
- Organize your time and assets. Time and resource management are critical — the more limited they are, the more you need to make organization part of your routine.
- Learn now to determine what you need to know next. “One thing every journalism graduate should know is that they will never get a syllabus again.”
McAdams suggests that it’s up to individual journalists to take responsibility for their own learning. Great advice for future-proofing your career.
