By Margaret Looney
Journalists jotting down New Year’s
resolutions should include a plan to improve their skills -- or even learn a
few new ones. Like a Swiss Army knife, journalists today need to be multifunctional.
Not sure where to start? Here are a few
suggestions. Whether you focus on one or choose to master them all, these
skills will make you more marketable in 2013 and in years to come:
1. Coding
Whether it’s just to spruce up a blog
or to conceptualize remarkable projects like the latest New York Times
interactive masterpiece, Web coding is a valuable skill for journalists.
There are a number of free resources for teaching yourself programming
languages. You can also learn HTML or CSS hands-on with Web page editor Mozilla Thimble.
2. Interpreting
Infographics and data visualizations
took reporting in the public interest to new heights in 2012, and reporting and
presentation will only continue to intertwine. Journalists will shift from hunter/gatherer style to a mode of interpretation as data sets
become more readily available.
But all of these data are useless
unless journalists have the know-how to analyze them. Make the Data
Journalism Handbook your new best friend or browse through the
Guardian’s best data visualizations of the year to get an idea of the
impact data storytelling can have. Or start your own data or infographic
project with Piktochart
or Google Fusion Tables.
3. Branding
Journalists need to brand
and market themselves. One of the easiest ways to do that (other
than social media) is with an online portfolio or personal website. Use WordPress,
Cuttings.me,
Pressfolios and other free sites to contain all of your vital career details.
Maintain a blog, create an infographic resume from your LinkedIn profile
with Visualize.me or Visually, archive your best clips and link to all your social
media accounts--not just to sell yourself, but to highlight your unique set of
skills and qualifications.
What new skills do you want to learn
this year?
Source: ijnet.org
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