Six Skills Every Journalist Needs

If you’re thinking about training to become a journalist, it’s important to understand the skills involved. Even in the age of AI, these fundamental skills are still key to success in the field, and they still underpin journalism degree studies. Let’s take a look.

Writing and communication

Journalists must be able to write to an extremely high level of competence; concisely, clearly and with a compelling tone, in order to convey data and information. They must be able to flex their writing style for audiences and outlets and have great spelling, grammar and punctuation. However, note that with today’s AI skills, journalists can get help with these tasks, making this foundational aspect of the role easier.

Attention to detail

Accuracy is essential to journalism. A journalist’s career can unravel if the facts are misreported. Journalists need to follow meticulous strategies for checking facts, verifying information and checking that all details are correct before the story is published.

Research skills

Journalists must have excellent research and information-gathering skills, using methods that involve interviews, secondary research and document analysis. Students learn these skills when they take a journalism course at schoolofjournalism.co.uk/.

Critical thinking

Analysis and critical judgement are essential in this role to uncover facts, identify bias, and solve problems that can occur during the reporting process. This includes assessing information credibility, evaluating sources and making reliable, ethical judgements.

Interviewing

Journalists must learn how to conduct effective interviews that get to the heart of the story while accurately presenting the facts. This is another foundational skill that is taught heavily on a journalism degree course, and it must be deeply embedded to the point where it is ingrained.

Positive mindset

The journalism field is constantly changing and evolving. Some roles feel threatened by AI and others are emerging, as technology transforms the way that readers consume and seek out information. Journalists who are excellent at what they do, flexible, adaptable and ready to evolve will find the industry to be as vibrant and rewarding as ever, offering a rich and interesting career path filled with challenges and opportunities.