Should you take up a career in media?

Muaz Shabandri| Khaleejtimes| 16 December 2014 :  With Internet and smartphones, journalism has undergone a sea change and today’s journalist must be adept at both technology and telling a story well.      Journalism is changing all around the world. A one-size-fits-all convention does not exist anymore. More people use smartphones to share stories and real-world events happening around them — shifting the focus to citizen journalism and impacting the way students are taught media today. Each year, hundreds of students sign up for media programmes offered by a handful of universities in the UAE. At a time when legacy media outlets are struggling to find new streams of revenue, the uptick in journalism wannabes is changing media education for good. From using smartphones and producing content to teaching students how to self-publish stories, media educators are constantly shifting gears to keep up with technology Speaking on the subject, Riz Khan, an award-winning international journalist who has worked for BBC, CNN and Al Jazeera, says the Internet has changed how people share stories. “Definitely, the way stories are told has changed. The question is whether the people who are teaching journalism are up to date and in tune with what’s being put out there technologically. People should have technical competence — how to use tools, editing gear and remain multi-skilled. A journalist should not be struggling with technology.” With new media outlets increasingly focusing on millennials, Khan believes taking up a career in media will become increasingly challenging. “There will always be something new that will come up and change things. We couldn’t predict citizen journalism changing things the way it has. Life has changed and (technological) tools have made so much more available to people. Making journalism a career will become increasingly challenging but media outlets will continue to find nuggets of opportunities. The knowledge of how to use a tool and make judgments will become important.” Recollecting his time as a media student, Khan added, “When I was studying, I think media outlets were very clear and students could work only at a very few channels like ITN and BBC. There were a few radio stations and that was it. Today, the world has changed completely and communication methodology has changed through the Internet. Citizen journalism and the fact that visual and audio recording capacity is now in one’s pocket on smartphones have changed everything.” muaz@khaleejtimes.com Top tips from Riz Khan Have a sense of moral and ethical value: The idea is to make a judgment and respect certain things like privacy. Being honest and not tricking a person to answer questions in a certain way or making listeners hear something by editing it in a particular manner is important. An ability to learn and adapt: Flexibility comes with technical competency. Learn new tools and understand the best ways of telling a story. Build your people skills: Knowing a good story comes down to understanding people. If you know what people tune into emotionally and what stories can resonate with people, all you have to do is articulate yourself.