60 jobs for journalists: Become masters of a niche- Obe

In the absence of traditional media jobs, journalists have been advised to become the master of reporting any particular area of interest to society.

Media trainer and founder of The Journalism Clinic, Mr Taiwo Obe gave the advice on Thursday during a zoom meeting to mark his 60^th birthday.

The theme of the session attended by a cross-section of journalists and media professionals was  “6o exciting and rewarding jobs for young journalists.”

According to him, contrary to old thinking, journalists now have to know everything about something and not something about everything.

“ You have to become a master of anything you want to report based on the knowledge you have and can get through training and research,” Obe counselled.

READ ALSO: VACANCIES: EDITOR, RESEARCHER 

He noted that the crisis is the media industry worldwide is such that there are no jobs again like it used to be and the option is to find a niche area to become an authority on.

“ You have to be curious, be able to think and be able to create a job for yourself from the information available to you and your passion. You have to be intentional and be grounded in your subject, “ he stated.

He listed various areas of coverage available to journalists beyond the traditional ones which he said require comprehensive reporting.

According to him, Fact-checking; Metro; Rail Reporting; Luxury reporting; gender reporting; infographics reporting; data reporting; investigative reporting; news analysis; researcher and many more job opportunities to consider.

“ There is a blogger reporting about pregnancy, people reporting about sleep and many other issues hitherto considered minor. Health, Sports, Entertainment, Business have many aspects that need to be reported.

“If you are a good interviewer, you can turn it into a rewarding job. If you are good in analysis, you should not be going from one station to other analysing reports without being paid. You have to launch your own platform and build your brand like many are doing”

Referring to a statement by Travel Journalist, Pulu Awofeso in 2016, Obe noted that the journalist of today and the future will be one-person media house skilled in multi-media story-telling.

Beyond regular news, he noted that journalists must know how to sell intelligence, insights and solutions people need and are ready to pay for.

“ Don’t be afraid, there is prosperity in this business, but you have to be master of your subject to know what to do next and be intentional.

“There are people doing things from which they are getting joy and you too must, because it’s important to have joy in what you are doing,” Obe stated.

Participants, including  Syndicated columnist, Sonala Olumhense, former Managing Director of The Guardian, former Managing Director of New Age and Sully Abu congratulated Obe on his 6oth birthday and commended him for contributing to media capacity development in the industry over the years.

“It’s very thoughtful of you to have chosen to celebrate your birthday in this manner. It’s a  major act of selflessness. Keep doing it,” Olumhese said.

Leadership Coach and Trainer, Funke Treasure-Durodola said ” Thank you for the investment in the careers of journalists over the years. We are grateful”