'Make one new contact every day' – Q&A with Trushar Barot

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Every week we ask a leading figure in digital news about their work, their career and what it takes to be a digital journalist in the 21st century. This week's guest is Trushar Barot , mobile editor at the BBC World Service. Here's what he had to say...

What is your job title and what does that mean?

My job title is mobile editor for BBC World Service Group. This brief covers the 28 language services that the BBC operates, across TV, radio and online.

A big part of the role is working on strategic development of our mobile services (including our responsive websites, in-house apps and third party mobile platforms), innovative mobile-first formats and related workflows across our global newsrooms.

I also lead on developing BBC News editorial propositions on mobile messaging apps - building on previous experiments with services such as Whatsapp, Line, Viber, BBM, WeChat, among others.

How did you get started in journalism?

I managed to get a week’s work experience at the Sunday Times. That lead to a Saturday job as a runner in their production department which I did for a couple of years while also working full time at a bank. I then managed to get accepted onto the paper’s journalism trainee scheme. It’s great to see that these sorts of schemes are growing across the industry – a few years ago they looked like they were close to extinction.

What do you most look forward to at the start of your day?

Breakfast! But, if you mean work-wise, I always to try ensure I carve out some time in the morning to read up on the latest industry news - who is doing interesting things? What new shiny thing has just launched that could have an impact on how we do our jobs?

I try and challenge myself to think of a way I can connect these new trends with what we’re doing at the BBC - the results are often wacky and completely impractical, but sometimes there is a germ of an idea that could really develop. I’m lucky I have a job that enables me to operate this way. That’s what gives me a buzz each day.

What does a normal day look like for you? In emoji.

What three tools or apps do you use the most for work?

It’s really difficult to pick three specific ones - I have a very full phone home screen! It’s probably easier to say I use a number but they break down into three categories: News apps (including competitors and new startups); chat apps (all the main ones you’d expect but also newer ones that have interesting niche uses); utility apps (those that help me organise my job better - including notes, files and tasks).

What would you focus on if you were training as a journalist now?

I’m not one of those people who think you have to know how to code - I still think the most important skill is to understand what a story is and how to tell it.

However, it’s undoubtedly important that you understand some of the basic principles of coding and digital development (which I’m still doing myself). For example, do you know what an API is and what can be done with it? How could you use tools like IFTTT to connect apps and online services to help improve your productivity and your journalism?

Increasingly, it’s also about having a deep understanding of how your potential audience is discovering and consuming news content (including the types of stories they are interested in, the devices they are using and how they are interacting with that content).

What skills do you think are important to your role?

Working at a big organisation like the BBC, sometimes the real challenge - and the undoubted opportunity – is connecting the dots in terms of seeing who is working on what and how that could be used by other teams. There’s a huge amount of talent here and I see it as an important part of my skillset to be able to maximise this asset by sharing knowledge, communicating more effectively and making it easier for everyone to learn from each other.

The most important skills are the 'soft' skills - Trushar Barot, BBC World Service

I need to understand how mobile technology and our journalism can combine most effectively and deliver the best possible experience for our audience. I need to be able to interpret interesting trends into practical and actionable intelligence - and also quickly assess and dismiss trends that aren’t relevant to us.

It’s really important to be organised and manage your time effectively. If I have meetings, I try to be clear why I’m having them and what my objective is - so I can stay focussed during them, or (ideally!) decide that they are not needed.

The most important skills – and almost always the ones that you never get trained to do or think least about – are the ‘soft’ skills.

How well can you get on with people? How can you inspire others to try out new things? How approachable are you, so that colleagues can come to you with ideas, suggestions or problems? Are you respectful – do you work with integrity and listen to what others have to say? From my experience, it’s always been these characteristics that have driven innovation and accelerated positive change.

What has your current job taught you about the industry?

We are going through one of the most exciting eras in journalism history. I think we’ve now mostly passed through the doom-laden years of the news industry gnashing its teeth about its future.

Yes, new models are still being developed and some of the big problems of solving digital revenue haven’t gone away, but we are about to see something very exciting: over the next couple of years a billion people will connect to the internet for the first time in their lives. Almost all will be on cheap smartphones.

I’m convinced it’s going to lead to a revolution in how countries develop and grow. It’s going to lead to new ways of connecting the world digitally – uplifting the lives of millions. I’m lucky to be in a position to try and build our editorial proposition for that digital world.

What would you say to someone applying to work at your organisation?

Go and take a look the excellent BBC College of Journalism website – there are lots of great resources, tips and videos related to getting work experience, but also developing your journalism skills more generally.

What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?

It was when I was a trainee journalist at the Sunday Times, from Geordie Greig (now Editor at the Mail on Sunday): Make one new contact every day.

I’m pretty terrible at networking and am naturally quite a shy person, but it’s a piece of advice I have always remembered. Now, with the likes of Twitter and LinkedIn, it’s much easier to establish and maintain connections in the industry.

I’d update that advice a little today: Make one new contact every day – and make sure you add them on LinkedIn.

Next week we'll hear from Mariana Santos, director of interactive and animation at Fusion. Check out the previous interviews with Trinity Mirror Regional's Alison Gow , the LA Times's Mitra Kalita and Greg Barber from The Wahington Post .