Online Journalism

The Buttry Diary- 10 ways to think like a Digital First journalist

February 15, 2012

Steve Buttry highlights some characteristics of Digital First journalists that differ from the traditional mindset of journalism.

• Digital First journalists work for digital platforms, and since journalism is constantly changing, they are always experimenting with new social tools and trying to diversify their techniques.
• Digital First journalists utilize collaborative journalism to their fullest advantage by reaching out to the public and generating discussions through Twitter or Facebook.
• Twitter is their first resource to check when news breaks and their success is measured through the number retweets or links to a story.
• If a journalist does not have the story first, they will credit and provide links to the sources that do.

In my opinion, the most valuable trait that Digital First journalists possess over traditional journalists is their exercise of collaboration over competition. Journalists seek to engage readers by building strong networks with community bloggers, encouraging the community to participate in conversation and linking to sources with relevant information. Furthermore, it is important for rookie journalists to emulate the qualities exhibited by Digital First journalists in order to embrace a more innovative form of journalism that employs fairness, transparency, credibility and more readership.

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