Traits of tomorrow’s journalists

Mashable has published 8 Must-Have Traits of Tomorrow’s Journalist and I have to agree with every one.

1. Entrepreneurial and Business Savvy.  More and more journalists are finding themselves “self-employed.”  The more you know about the value of content and how to run a business, the better.
2. Programmer. Yep, this means knowing Flash…and HTML…and JavaScript…and more.  As the article says tomorrow’s journalists must be “able to report and present a quality story using multimedia, and having the skills to build and manage the platforms that present the stories.”
3. Open-minded Experimenter. This may be the toughest one of all.  Journalists must learn to be innovative, to take risks – especially when it comes to connecting with audiences.
4. Multimedia Storyteller. We’ve been saying it for years and by now, most people realize it.  You have to be able to tell stories in more than one medium and to leverage the strength of each platform for your story.
5. The Social Journalist and Community Builder. We’re seeing this type of skill showing up in job postings now.  Newsrooms want people who have “the ability to find and connect with communities of interest both online and offline.”
6. Blogger and Curator.  Mashable says “journalists will have to practice blogging regularly and serve as curators of other content on the Web.”
7. Multi-skilled. This sounds a lot like “Multimedia Storyteller” to me, but I guess the distinction is that being a great writer or being a great on-camera presence may just not be enough in the future.
8. Fundamental Journalism Skills. Yes, they still matter.  You have to have what the article calls “a marriage between core values and new media skills.”

The one thing missing from the list may be 9.  A Passionate Desire. It seems to me that the job of journalist is no longer for people who thought TV looked like a glamorous way to make a living or who wanted a paycheck while they worked on the great American novel.  Developing the traits listed will require a true dedication to the craft, and I don’t see how that can be bad for anyone.