Justin Kings, radio journalist and media consultant, lists the Top 10 essential skills of a multimedia journalist, gleaned from his Twitter followers.
- Technical ability.
- Understanding how each platform can enrich story-telling.
- Understanding how consumers access content, use the likes of Twitter and Facebook effectively.
- Be a self-starter – you need the motivation.
- Be a team player.
- Organisational skills.
- Ability to cope with pressure.
- Adaptability.
- Interpersonal skills – Journalism is fundamentally about people. Social media provides huge opportunities to use these interpersonal skills. See @radiokate, a radio producer – “It’s about the connections, the trust, the engagement with people.” It’s all about “getting” the language of social media.
- Simply being a great journalist/storyteller – finding the story, checking the facts, being impartial. The fundamental skills never go away.