A thick veil of gloom is slowly blanketing journalism. From resembling Clark Kent and Tintin in their youth, journalists now look more like Jason Blairs, untrustworthy information distorters. Layoffs, shorter deadlines and declining ad revenues are adding to the pessimism of the trade. To feel better, some of them even fake readership data.
We stand against this trend. We are sure that journalism is getting better and stronger by the day. And that journalists will benefit from this.
More than just a big vent session for happy or angry journalists, we want to list the reasons why journalism is going in the right direction. Why it’s easier than ever for young journalists to access sources. Why journalists have more power than ever against their editors. Why journalists will have a more positive impact on society.
This is why the Online Journalism Blog team created JollyJournalist.com, a place where you can tell the world why you think that these are good times to be a journalist. We’ve added ten reasons to get you started below. Once you’re done reading them, please head over to JollyJournalist.com to comment on them or add your own!
Spread the joy !
Copy and embed in your blog!
Oh, and the more people participate, the jollier it gets – so please help us spread the word by blogging about JollyJournalist.com or also by putting our nifty badge on your site!
1. The power of organisation without an organisation. Social networks allow you to find people with the same interests, with different abilities and a commitment to the same goals – regardless of location or status. The news team is no longer within the same four walls, they can change with each story.
2. Write what you want and build a personal brand. Your editor doesn’t like what you have to say? Start a blog and post it there – if it’s interesting and well written, the world will notice.
3. Be the paperboy. That’s actually better than it sounds: As a journalist, you can now also take care of the distribution of your content – and decide whether you want it to be an article, a blog post, a video, a podcast or whatever.
4. The death of churnalism. News is consumed in such a way that commoditized wire content can be delivered at zero marginal cost. There’s no need for rewriting. Journalists can focus on fact digging and analysis.
5. Information like it’s Christmas. Google allows for journalists to get information without having to go the library. Most importantly, scholarly data and free-to-use databases offer the critically-minded with thousands of references to build an argument and add value to an issue.
6. Whistleblowers at arm’s length. Wikileaks and the like have made it really easy for people with sensitive information to bypass censorship and reach a journalist. That means more insider information in the newsroom.
7. Real-time fact-checking. Interviewing a politician who’s bluffing you with tons of statistics? Ask her to quote the source and confront her to Google on your 3G cell-phone.
8. Ask people who actually know something. Browsing blogs or academic work gives you access to hundreds of contacts in just a few clicks. The address book isn’t nearly as valuable as it used to be, therefore opening up the profession. (OK, political journalists not included).
9. Interview the world for free. Skype means free interviews for freelancers. What’s more, asynchronous e-mail interviews mean you can get answers from New-Zealand while sitting comfortably at your desk in Europe.
10. Feedback that’s not from mom. Reading comments, blog-searching or twitter-watching let you see what others are saying about your article or your area of expertise. You know when you do well. And when you need to improve.
(We also have a French version and a Czech version!)
By Paul Bradshaw, Nico Luchsinger and Nicolas Kayser-Bril
9 Comments
How do you post a comment on Jolly Journalist? I don’t get the question – I’ve tried a bunch of famous journalists. Maybe I’m missing something.
Yay for jolly journalists – there are too many miserable old sods in this profession! Yay for being the papergirl and not crashing into a lamp post, that’s what I say. Will blog later.
Good one.
Thanks for this uplifting post! I totally agree.
Yeah… all very nice. If money didn’t come into the equation it would be a great time to be a journalist. Unfortunately most of us need to pay the rent and whilst being jolly might make you feel a bit better, it won’t keep your bank manager happy.
Thank you!!!
@Teach_J
The answer is in the sentence – the word ‘journalist’ is linked to the ‘Herodotus’ wikipedia article.
Just so that automated spammers don’t get in the database.
I’d need to take objections with a couple of those points:
1) Point 2 – You print stories that the editor spiked/didn’t like and he finds out? At luckiest, you’ll get a bollocking. At worst, sacked – and that’s before the copyright issues.
2) Point 4 talks about no more need for rewriting – for a lot of journalists rewrites (and sub-editors) make a story better.
@Craig point 2 – perhaps it’s badly phrased: the point is, the editor isn’t the only arbiter of quality. Point 4 you misunderstand: it’s saying that rewriting press releases becomes a redundant part of the job. And OK, they may be in dire need of a rewrite, but hey, there’s more important things to write about.
Yeah, I would go with what you say there about point 4, but that comes back to the fact that so many press releases are – as you point out – terribly written (not mine of course
)
11 Trackbacks
[...] unseren (und hoffentlich auch anderer Leute) Optimismus sammeln werden. Als Einstieg gibt’s beim Online Journalism Blog schon mal zehn gute Gründe; ich freue mich auf viele mehr. « Einmal schreiben, mehrmals [...]
[...] the image of Santa Claus with a press pass that the name invokes, they have started collecting reasons why things are better than they used to [...]
[...] 10 reasons (or more) to be a jolly journalist. I really like Paul Bradshaw’s list. [...]
[...] Ma lasciamo parlare loro: [...]
[...] and team even posted their Top 10 list of reasons on the blog. You can add your reasons at JollyJournalist. Go on. Spread the [...]
[...] Paul Bradshaw blogged about two weeks ago, there’s a lot of room for jolly journalists, despite the angry ones and their happy [...]
[...] week I was interviewed by ABC’s Media Report about the ten ‘reasons to be cheerful’ which kicked off JollyJournalist.com earlier this month. The podcast (mp3) of that show is now live – click forward [...]
[...] Building a sense of community: Using a free wiki platform and Facebook the students should create an online community where readers can go to share information and ideas about the beat. This task is designed to teach the “be the paperboy” thought that Paul Bradshaw mention over at the Online Journalism Blog. [...]
[...] equipo de Online Journalism Blog se muestra optimista respecto al futuro del periodismo; cree que nunca se han dado circunstancias tan favorables para su desarrollo como las existentes [...]
[...] information is easier to attain. According to the Online Journalism Blog, “wikileaks and the like” have make it easier for people with sensitive information to [...]
[...] 10 reasons (or more) to be a jolly journalist Getting out there and talking about the things you want to talk about — whether your editor wants you to or not. [...]