Most journalism jobs today require critical thinking and excellent writing, plus strong social media skills. That’s obvious. But what about the jobs of tomorrow?
“We are genuinely in a revolution when it comes to getting information,” says Raquel Amparo, news director at KUVN (Univision) in Dallas. “Are we giving the audience what they are looking for and are we doing it consistently?”
To answer those questions, Amparo says she’d love to hire a digital strategist, someone who understands analytics and can figure out what audience wants what information and when. “We have a lot of material that never sees the light of day,” she told a Texas Association of Broadcasters workshop. “We want to leverage that content and find an audience for it.”
Rachel Osier Lindley, statewide senior editor for public radio’s regional hub in Dallas, says jobs have already changed dramatically. “Traditional reporters who just want to be on the radio, that job doesn’t exist,” she said. People who will get jobs now in public radio need to think digital from the start, Lindley said, and know how to produce good video and images in addition to strong audio.
“I would love a kind of forensic accountant,” says Andrea Parquet-Taylor, news director at KTVT, the Dallas CBS station. “We have data, data, data, from local communities. I need somebody who can distill that in a visual story.”
The ability to collaborate, not just within a newsroom but across newsrooms, will also be a valuable skill going forward. Lindley’s job is all about connecting newsrooms and producing collaborative coverage statewide. Parquet-Taylor’s station is in a partnership with Univision.
If you have these types of skills, make sure to highlight them in your cover letter or resume.
Image by William Iven from Pixabay
