The seven qualities of the 21st century journalist

Joe Grimm of JobsPage.com posted an article today on a talk by Owen Youngman, a Knight Professor of Digital Media Strategy.
At a recent discussion with Northwestern’s National High School Institute journalism students, Youngman talked about the basic qualities he believes all 21st century journalists will need in order to survive. The seven traits he listed as invaluable:

• Accuracy
  
• Self-Awareness
• Numeracy
  
• Appropriateness
  
• Business Savvy
• Audience Awareness
• Adaptability
  

Numeracy is a trait we at the Reynolds Center believe all journalists should have because of how essential it is in a variety of reporting beats. From the article:

"To be accurate, we have to understand and handle numbers better. They are embedded in almost every story we do and they become even more important in an age when so much of what happens online is data driven."

To improve number-literacy, Youngman suggested the book "A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper". We suggest some of our short online tutorials for brushing up on basic math and business information. We also recommend this article for budding business journalists.

Learn more about the seven traits here.

Media General appoints former Trib CEO to board

The Board of Directors of Media General, publisher of 21 daily newspapers, appointed Dennis J. FitzSimons, former Chairman, CEO and President of the Tribune Company, to the board Thursday. FitzSimons will be a member of the Audit Committee.

FitzSimons, who stepped down as Chairman, CEO and President of Tribune Company in December 2007 after a tenure of 25 years, completed the sale of the company to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan and Sam Zell before he left.

FitzSimons currently serves as Chairman and Director of the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. He is a Trustee of Northwestern University, the Museum of Science and Industry, and the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago.

View more details here.

Financial journalist featured in SmartWoman magazine

FOX Business' Dagen McDowell recently did an interview with SmartWoman magazine about her career as a financial journalist. In the interview she details what she is most passionate about in finance, being a woman in the profession and the troubled state of newspapers.

From the interview:

''Q: Did you ever feel that people in the financial industry
didn’t take you seriously because you are a woman?

McDowell: Early on I got a great piece of advice from my editor at Institutional
Investor. Don’t refer to anyone as “Mr. So-and-so” when talking to them. Call them by their first names. Don’t subordinate yourself. That always seemed to work.''

Business news has new significance

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports that since the sink of the economy, viewership for business and financial news has risen, leading to the popularity of finance news and the journalists who cover it.

The story notes that national networks like CNBC, CNNMoney.com and Fox Business Network have all seen an increase in viewers since the Lehman Brothers filed for bankrupcy Sept 15, 2008.

And primarily female reporters covering the financial meltdown have gained esteem on the beat.

From the story:

"Sandra Smith, a reporter for Fox Business Network, has a less piggish take on why women reporters have stood out in the last couple of years.
'I think females can do a very good job of showing the softer side when covering these kinds of stories,' said Smith, who hails from Chicago. 'I can't tell you the number of victims I've talked to who have lost so much of their net worth. You can't just treat them like their only purpose is to fulfill a story.'"

Biz Journalist wins Livingston Award

Wall Street Journal business reporter, Kate Kelly, is one of three winners of the $10,000 Livingston Awards for Young Journalists for 2008 work.

Kelly won the award in the national reporting category for "Lost Opportunities Haunt Final Days of Bear Stearns," her three-part series on the collapse of the Bear Stearns company.

The Livingston Awards are limited to journalists under the age of 35 and are awarded in local, national, and international reporting. 

The 50 finalists for this year's competition were widdled down to three and winners were announced today by Charles Gibson of ABC News, Ken Auletta of The New Yorker and Anna Quindlen of Newsweek today.

View the winners list here.

A future personalized

Fast Company recently posted an article describing what IDEO, a global design consultancy used by Fortune 500 companies, believes journalism will look like after its traditional business models have collapsed.
The article criticizes news organizations for their loss of credibility, clunky and inefficient distribution systems and for marginalizing consumers in the dialogue of how to save journalism.
Yet IDEO still has hope for the future of news. It forsees a future of highly-contextualized hyper-local citizen journalism that contributes to a dense web of collective knowledge thriving on immediacy. From the story:

In these scenarios, we see that information has become even more personalized and hyperlocal--and, paradoxically, more communal, participatory, and global. Journalism is more like having a conversation. People speak with unique voices, take ownership of content, and establish credibility, which in turn enables strong communities in which news can thrive.

View the story here. See discussion about the future of journalism here.

What do you think of IDEO's vision of journalism's future? Comment and tell us.

Harvard Crimson students flee the industry

The Harvard Crimson has seen fewer editors going on to journalism industry careers. Of 10 previous editors at the Harvard University newspaper, only two now work at newspapers.
Crimson editors choosing careers outside of journalism has become more common over the past 5 to 10 years according to Paras Bhayani, the departing managing editor. Bhayani said job scarcity and instability is deterring students from entering the field.
From the story:

“I would have loved to do something in political journalism,” Bhayani said. “A lot of us have been doing journalism since middle school or high school and it’s something we all love and care about. It’s sad that that possibility for a lot of us is gone.”

To read the full story, click here