Storytelling is key to what reporters need to know

Having storytelling skills is a “dealbreaker” when it comes to what journalism students and journalists need to know regardless of the platform, blogger and journalism educator Mindy McAdams wrote last spring on her blog, Teaching Online Journalism.

In her post titled “What every journalism student needs to know (now),” McAdams outlines what she regards as the essentials that reporters know. She includes reporting fundamentals, basic XHTML and CSS, how to gather and edit audio, basics of photo composition and Photoshop, exposure to Soundslides and video and podcasting on her list of areas to learn as a student.

She concludes, however, with stressing the importance of teaching storytelling, no matter what technology and other skills are learned. Storytelling becomes the key lesson across all the many platforms. Everything else is a tool to use toward that goal.

In the comments on McAdams’ post, John Kroll of cleveland.com expressed this need with a rather thoughtful metaphor:

“I often tell folks that moving from my former print-only job to more involvement with online and multimedia was like moving from the 16-crayon box to the jumbo 128-pack. We have so many more ways to communicate today, I don’t want students coming of out J school who just use brown because it’s too much trouble to have to pick between burnt umber and brick red.”

Having the skills for the job

So what skills do journalists need to get a job today? Laura Ruel, a Poynter contributor and assistant professor at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, sought out answers to this question last spring from online editors and Poynter experts in her article “The Online Journalism Skills that Get Jobs.”

In her conversations, Ruel found that what employers are looking for in terms of online skills all comes down to enterprise and curiosity being the desired traits in potential candidates, though potential employers do look for software and multimedia storytelling skills as well.

“I’m less concerned about someone already knowing a given piece of software — although it is important and definitely does help,” Josh Hatch, a producer at USAToday.com, told Ruel, “than I am about someone who is naturally curious and not intimidated by technology. I want someone who wants to play with technology.”

To summarize the responses she received, Ruel wrote that the most common skills editors were looking for are the ability to shoot and edit video, proficiency in HTML and some experience with Flash.

In terms of media editing skills, editors told Ruel that while there is not a singular program that today’s journalists must know how to operate for editing, they want evidence that they have at least experimented and and have a basic understanding of editing programs. More important, they said, is knowing how to use audio and video for effective storytelling.

Ruel describes having a basic understanding of Web site development as a “lifeline” for today’s journalists. Editors listed abilities such as formatting text, defining a headline, applying color and size to page elements, constructing an image tag and embedding a video as important skills to have.

Flash is currently the “hot program” to have skills in and editors said it is a great way to get your foot in the door.

Other top skills editors listed included knowledge of how to collect and edit audio, how to work with databases and interface design.

Tools of the trade

A vast array of tools are now at reporters’ disposals, if they can master them all and keep up with new ones.

On her latest post on her blog ”Headlines and Deadlines“, Liverpool Daily Press reporter Alison Glow outlines some of these tools for Web 1.0 and 2.0, highlighting the importance of mastering new tools as the news media industry continues to constantly change.

Glow’s list of tools for journalists is lengthy, ranging from tools to assist in how a reporter gets, researches, presents and follows up a story as well as how readers will share it.

Perhaps in some ways more interesting than the list itself is the discussion in the comments section, where the blog author and posters considered whether these tools are actually manageable and whether they save time for reporters in the long term.

An anonymous poster found Glow’s list daunting for reporters that already have more on their plates, not understanding how a reporter can do it all.

“Maybe it’s different on the Liverpool Post, but reporters on most regional papers don’t have time to do a great job, given the amount of copy they need to produce, even when they focus solely on text,” anonymous wrote.

For Glow, these networking and Web tools make her life easier, and she’s found tools to help speed the process, to send messages to multiple places at once, she wrote.

Her conclusion?

“We can’t do it all but I think – I hope – we can do something because, to be frank, we have to,” she wrote.

Drawing from Glow’s list, here are some tools for journalists to consider and get to know better:

-Methods of delivery/information gathering to consider: RSS feeds of news and message board posts, podcasting, social networking, blogging, live chatting, video debates, live video, social bookmarkings, linking, etc.

-Web site resources to explore/consider using: Twitter,  Facebook, Flickr, Digg, Googlemap, YouTube, Dipity, del.icio.us, Ping.fm, Spinvox, Utterz, Yahoo Pipe, Google Reader, etc. 

For more thoughts and ideas, check out Glow’s post.