Online Journalism News

'For me, it's the right time to become a journalist'

Three years ago I took the decision as a 42-year-old accountant to undergo a major career change and take up the cause of journalism.

It was a difficult decision sidelining over 20 years experience in industry at most levels, but it was time to follow my secret path, one that, if being honest, I had dreamt of since my mid teens.

It would be safe to say that the three years since have seen some of the most momentous changes in journalism with a combination of technological and economic factors destroying the old relationship between the media and the consumer - seemingly forever.

Now we can all be publishers, we can all choose our consuming platform and most importantly we would all like to pay little, if anything, for the privilege.

What an awful time to become a journalist. Daily lists of companies cutting back, recruitment freezes, falls in circulation and advertising rates. Why did I leave a 'good profession'?

For me it is the right time, for with revolution comes opportunity.

Yes, the old model is disappearing fast: the milk round of companies picking up journalism graduates and putting them on a training programme is no longer around; the local journalism scene which sustained and furthered the careers of thousands is dying - but in its place a new beginning is around the corner.

Paul Bradshaw wrote: "Conversation and community have always been the lifeblood of journalism. Good journalism has always sought to serve a community; commercially, journalism has always needed large or affluent communities to support it."

This is where journalism is heading and this is where the opportunities will lie.

With easy tools of publication, it will become almost a cottage industry, reverting to localised and niche driven output, well written and targeted at a particular audience.

Journalists will become largely self-employed and will survive by adding value to their content and acquiring the skills of publication and selling as well.

It could be a frightening prospect, but it provides opportunities for those willing to innovate and experiment. Those not willing to change will fall by the wayside

There will be some fallout from the industry. It will not be able to sustain the overheads and administration costs that it does at the moment. The days of the large media company are over.

Now this 45-year-old journalist and ex-accountant is ready to take the challenge.

Nigel Barlow blogs at Thoughts of Nigel.

Tags (click tag to find related articles; click icon for feed):
training | hyperlocal | job losses | local and regional media | nigel barlow |

Sign up here for our free, daily email newsletter to get all the latest stories, jobs, tips and more.

Got a story? Email our news team: Laura Oliver; Judith Townend or telephone +44 (0)1273 384290. You can also follow us on Twitter: @journalismnews / @LauraOliver / @JTownend.