Vad innebär det att vara journalist?

“If you’re interested in a career in Journalism, think long and hard about what it will mean to ‘be’ a Journalist in the next six months.” Så skriver Mitch Joel på bloggen Six Pixels of Separation. Jag som själv är på väg ut i arbetslivet, ställer mig samma spörsmål. Vad är det egentligen jag utbildar mig till? Enligt Mitch Joel är det en svår fråga. För vad är egentligen en journalist är år 2009?

“It might be easier to ask: what was a Journalist? Traditionally, a journalist was the conduit of a community. They were the individuals that would gather the important information of a community, synthesize it and distribute it via a publishing channel to the mass community. Journalists were also empowered to be “different” than the rest of us. They had to be able to ask the tough questions of those who governed and ruled over us. They had to deliver content in a fair and balanced manner, so that people could come to their own conclusions. The information had to be distilled as honestly as possible – leaving out both religious and political bias.”

Idag krävs det dessutom mycket mer av en journalist rent kunskapsmässigt.

“Journalists no longer simply pitch (or get stories assigned), do the research and interviews (with proper fact-checking), and then file a story. Journalists are now multimedia producers. /…/ In no short order, Journalists have to better understand how copy works in print and online (from Blogs and Twitter to online publishers). They have to become search engine optimization experts.”

Ingen vet egentligen hur medielandskapet kommer att se ut om några år. Hur synen på journalistik och journalister kommer att te sig. Förhoppningsvis kommer det även i fortsättningen finnas behov av min yrkeskategori. Men som Mitch Joel också säger, det finns både en optimistisk syn på framtiden och en pessimistisk. Personligen hoppas jag att mina 6 terminer på JMG inte är bortkastade. En bra skola, men som bekant släpar man fortfarande efter på vissa områden.