Even though I completed my training as a journalist only two years ago, the numbers of my peers who were blogging at the time, were few and far between.
It's a different story now — trainee journalists are actively encouraged to get online, so here are some pointers and caveats:
- See your website as your portfolio – make your professional contact details easily available to future employers.
- Keep it up-to-date with links to as much published work as possible and a recent CV or biography.
- There are plenty of low cost, user-friendly options for getting your site started too – Movable Type, WordPress and LiveJournal are all straightforward blogging platforms that you can build into depending on what you want your site to do.
- Try to identify other bloggers or journalists writing online that you admire — comment on their site; share links and make connections.
Freelancer Adam Westbrook has a great six-step guide on making the most of your website — it's aimed at freelance journalists specifically, but the points he makes are valid for anyone starting out.
A little extra on using Twitter
It's not for everyone — but it is for plenty of journalists. Whatever you want to call it (replacement RSS, microblogging platform, real-time news feed), Twitter is a tool for communication. What makes it so useful for those starting out is the speed and directness it offers and who you can communicate with — potential employers and journalists with experience in areas you might be interested in for example. Many of my contacts who rarely respond to email, will always reply to a question on Twitter.
A caveat to both of the above — look after your online presence
Once you start to become visible it's not easy to become invisible again. Remember that what you say and do, and the reputation you start to carve for yourself as a new journalist can stick with you — even more so online, where archives and caching keep old news, blog posts and status updates alive.
If you want to develop an online presence that represents your professional self, decide what personal/private boundaries to draw when using social sites and then devote time keeping these online profiles up-to-date — an abandoned blog with dead links to your online work isn't going to entice a potential employer.
