Young journalists advised to embrace multimedia skills

Change is undeniably a continuous factor in our day to day lives and for one to thrive, they have to embrace it.

Just like any other profession, Journalism has evolved and media experts believe for young journalists to flourish in the media industry they need to be multi-skilled.

During a pre-media week dialogue and breakfast meeting organised by Media Focus on Africa in Kampala on Thursday, experts in the industry shared their insights and experiences in journalism and the media at large.

Young journalists and those still aspiring were a point of concern as their mojo to become successful journalists was put under scrutiny.

Maurice Mugisha a celebrated media personality and the Deputy Managing Director of the government-owned media company, Uganda Broadcasting Corporation, thinks the crop of journalist today are impatient.

"The biggest problem is that young journalists are impatient. We need to own digital studios and allow them to stay with us so that they can do what they love most. They are good on phone and we should be thinking of digital newsroom for these guys to move their skills there," he said

However, Maurice believes for young journalists to thrive in the current media environment that shifts gears every day they need to be multi-skilled.

"Media houses need content developers and they will be looking out for skilled people. Unless you have gained multimedia skills, you won't be employable," Mugisha said

He also noted with concern that the current education system needs to be revalued for journalism students to graduate into fully baked professionals.

Eva Georgia a media consultant said young journalists need to be trained differently due to the current changing trends in the industry.

"Traditional media shouldn't continue using journalists the same way because interests have changed and they need to be trained differently," she said

Georgia emphasised that consumption of news in the current age has completely changed adding that young journalists need to be trained on how to embrace technology in order to make them relevant.

"Academic institutions have to come up with new ways of training students for them to be able to produce different content on different platforms," she requested

Georgia also advised that young journalists have to be trained on how to use digital platforms to make money.

Douglas Mutumba a media expert working with East Africa radio service said young people are lazy and petty. He believes universities must change their style of teaching to a more practical one with multimedia skilling as a priority.

Dr. Emily Maractho the head of the Journalism and Media studies at UCU said all stakeholders need to start playing their roles and stop the blame games.

"We need to understand everyone's role. Media has a critical role in mentoring the young journalists and we the academia have to play our role of skilling them," she said

Maractho added that media houses need to invest in technology and human resource to create a befitting atmosphere for young journalists.