A former Editor of a top national daily newspaper who is not a graduate of many media related course once told me how he utilized the internet to acquire the specialised knowledge he required to be a professional journalist.
Since he did not study journalism, but found himself working in a newspaper organisation, he knew his limitations and went out of his way to learn online, what he needed to know about the profession to supplement his on-the-job experience.
I am not surprised by the rapid progress he has made on the job, which among other factors, can be attributed to his diligent application of the knowledge he got in the discharge of his duties.
Like every profession, journalism has its own body of knowledge which every journalist must know to function effectively on the job.
Writing news, features, opinion and other forms of editorial contents, editing and production require special skills which must be learnt either formally or informally.
There are laws, ethics and other forms of regulations which a professional journalist must know and adhere to.
While many journalists claim to have the required skills simply because of the course they studied or years of experience on the job, it is important to up-date your knowledge regularly to become a top professional journalist and remain one.
So much is changing in the way the world is communicating that much of what many of us learnt in the university and what we have practiced over the years cannot sustain our claim of being a professional journalist in some years to come.
My advice: get additional professional certification in media practice, don’t be too busy to attend media seminars and workshops and read new journalism books, journals and magazines.
The mark of a 21st century professional journalist is not how long you have been on the job or the certificate you got years ago, it’s how deep your knowledge is about the skills required in the constantly changing media terrain.
