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Q. Are there any facets of journalism that are doing well right now? I'm thinking about another job, but if there's something better than a print reporter job I could jump to, maybe I should jump there.

 

Thanks,

 

Have Eggs, Seeking Good Basket

Joe Grimm

A. You are wise to take steps for your future as a journalist. It can take years to prepare for a successful transition, so it is best to start long before you need to make a move.

It's impossible to see precisely where journalism is going. But we can already discern a few elements that may suggest some directions for you to begin your preparation.

• Journalists will be platform-agnostic. They will have to be able to write for or produce in different media. "Print reporter" is rapidly becoming a dangerously narrow designation. Learn to gather audio and video and perhaps how to edit it.

• Audiences, which no longer have to wait around for journalists to serve them, have become much more important. Learn to read, respect and work with audiences to produce journalism that achieves professional standards and values.

• We need to develop new content. It is clear that the business model is fraying, but there is a problem with traditional content, too. For many people, it is no longer as compelling as it once was. Journalists are in competition for people's time, so we have to be more interesting than everything else they can do on the Web -- including the creation of their own content. The better we understand audience, the better we will be able to compete.
  

• Learn to invent. Be entrepreneurial. Many of the best tools we will have in the future will be invented by everyday people, not just top executives. So start practicing innovative thought -- and develop the discipline to push ideas into reality. You might need to work with others to do this.
  

For you, right now, start by learning new skills and developing regular habits of listening to an audience and using that information to improve content. Who knows? You could become one of the people who shows us the way.