Why do you think student journos should consider taking publication to the web?

— Lord Vincent Van Mendoza (@digitallourd) December 20, 2021

I can vividly remember the times we had to spend countless sleepless nights trying to make it sure that not a single error would go through the tabloid of our publication. I must say that was so laborious as we had to do things over and over again because once the prints were out, we had nothing left to do but to send out erratum notice should there be any erroneous parts in the paper.

Well, that’s only to say that it’s how it was in the traditional student journalism days. There are several differences compared to digital journalism I can tell given my years of experience in scholastic journalism (and in writing in general). To name a few, in the traditional setting, I’d say it’s way more costly because of the expenses entailed in the printing of the copies. Another thing is you could not publish as many articles as you would wish due to space restriction in the print. Actually, the list goes on. Anyhow, what I want you to see is the beauty in doing student journalism in the context of the new normal.

What is digital journalism?

Journalism has evolved quickly in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The traditional aim of journalism was for reporters to operate as neutral sources, attempting to provide information in a fact-based and objective manner. While this tradition is still alive and well in some news outlets, increased access to technology has resulted in a growth of citizen and activist journalists who openly have a bias or point of view, but nonetheless try to promote it through fair framing, editing, and reporting.

Some people use these tools to spread propaganda while masquerading as news. Furthermore, the internet has enabled us all to become authors: anyone can start a blog and publish an opinion that can go viral without any fact-checking or editing.

Journalists in the digital age must work in a fast-paced environment. As a result, striking a balance between timely and in-depth reporting is often more difficult.

Skills required to become a digital journalist

To become a student journalist, one should have good communication skills, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. A good communication skill is important for you to translate across your intended audience the kind of message that does not only inform but also encourages them to take an action. Creativity is equally important as it is required in captivating the attention of the netizens. You can’t be boring in digital journalism. Whenever possible, you have to present your content in a multimodal way. You can embed Tweets, include an audio version of the text, and add videos to your articles. Critical thinking is a must as you need to filter relevant sources for your write-up. While it is true that the internet offers a wide array of references you can use in writing, you have yet to make sure that have a sound judgment on which ones are worth citing and not. Finally, being good at solving problems gives you an advantage in digital journalism. The problems you may encounter may have something to do with the technical side of web sites, so you should at least try to embrace the world of web development. That’s just one among the many problems that may arise. When these skills are combined, you can confidently say that you can compete globally in doing digital journalism while still pursuing your academic goals.

Why consider digital journalism for your student publication?

The demand for digital content creators is increasing now more than ever. Your career opportunities will expand your job possibilities and prepare you for the future. Remember that the web becomes your portfolio where your employers may be checking out once you land a job related to journalism, PR, or corporate communication.

As digital content creators are redefining the way communication distributed in the media, we can tweak the way we present news. With the power that lies in the digital platform, we can send push notifications to our subscribers or flesh out instant alerts. We can even do video blogging as an additional option of presenting journalistic content.