Q. I've been a journalist for 20 years, mostly writing and reporting, but for the last few years, mostly editing. I've picked up a few other skills -- I can do podcasts, I can post stories to a Web site, I can edit digital audio tape and take OK digital photos.
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But I feel very, very, VERY nervous about my future, given the state of our industry and the fact that as a mid-level journalist, my employer could hire two newbies with fantastic digital skills for what they pay me. Yeah, sure, I could write five stories on deadline in the time it takes a rookie to do one, but as you well know, that does not necessarily provide job insurance for older journalists.
I have kids to put through college and must remain employed for at least another 10 to 15 years before I can retire. Many colleagues my age have not been so lucky, so I am worried.
I want to hedge my bets and learn new skills now in case the ax falls in my corner of the newsroom and I have to find a new job. It seems like Web content manager is a huge and growing job category for many news organizations. What do I need to learn to be qualified for that?
And if I want to learn HTML, what is the best place to learn that? Posting stories to a Web site at my job requires no programming skills -- you push a series of buttons and it's done automatically. Or do you think I'm dreaming to think that a news Web site would consider hiring someone who was born, gasp, before 1970?
Experienced and AnxiousA. You speak for many, many mid-career journalists.
Your assets are your experience, your various new media skills and that you have already set your sights on a potential next job.
When I, a somewhat older journalist, began doing more Web work, I asked Steve Chin. president and founder of
MKMedia and managing editor of
Reznetnews, what I should do. I'd like to pass his advice on to you.
Chin told me that I'm an editor and that the Web needs good editors. He said that, by the time I could ever catch up to programmers and designers, they would be on to the next tools.
Learning HTML might help you a little, but it is not essential. You are a tool user, not a tool maker. Your experience and the skills you already have are valuable to Web content managers. The role you are trying to create will require news judgment, leadership, team-building, evangelizing, data analysis and strategic thinking. If you can demonstrate those skills, you should be able to move further into content management and might be able to pull down the kind of salary you'll need to pay those college bills.
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Coming Monday: The loss of two jobs and a relationship have left her stranded and without meaningful journalism work. What can help her get back on track?
