Lunch Duty Rap - Week 3, Longing for Photoshop

Teaching Online Journalism's post today reminded me of an issue I've been thinking a lot about lately.

It quotes Renee Barnes' question, "What skills are most important for an online journalist?"

The main skills that emerge include these:

1. Evidence of blogging and interaction with a wide range of blogs
2. An understanding and active use of social media (Twitter, RSS, social bookmarking etc.)
3. The ability to tell an engaging story using still images and audio (audio slideshow – see my previous post for great examples)
4. Ability to shoot, edit and tell stories using video.
5. Basic ability to create interactive story elements using Adobe Flash
6. Ability edit audio and produce podcasts
7. Ability to file from the field breaking news
8. Ability to moderate online discussion

Personally, I feel that all of these skills are not only important but absolutely necessary for journalists today. The speed with which we're moving toward online products and competition is fast-paced and inevitable. In order to best be able to market yourself and serve your community, you have to fully embrace technology and online journalism.

However, there is only one issue with this reality - access to resources.

Most of the technology referenced above is not free. Programs for photos, video, podcasting and web building can cost hundreds of dollars. If you work for a newspaper or online publication that is willing to foot the bill, then that's great. But what about the rest of us?

I work at a small newspaper with minimal funding and even less online use. I can barely access email, let alone any Flash programs or Photoshop. So in order to have the same opportunities as everyone else, it's up to me to fund my own education in technology.

The same goes for freelance writers, laid-off journalists, or journalists who are actively job searching. It's the Catch-22 of the journalism industry. In order to make yourself marketable, you need access to technology. But when you're unemployed or living on a very low income, it's hard to fork over hundreds of dollars in the hopes of keeping up with technology and successfully marketing yourself. In all honesty, sometimes it's a gamble that I'm not willing to make.

The solution? Who knows. Maybe a technology grant that journalists can apply for and receive. Maybe free classes or free access to some of these programs at public libraries. Maybe there are some things out there already that I don't know about yet. Luckily, blogs, social networks and story-writing are all free, so there's still hope for some of us. I do the best that I can with what I've got. While I'm constantly nervous about being so far from where I should be as far as technology is concerned, I hope that my knowledge of the industry and my love of learning will get me past any hump that may come along in my search for jobs in the future.

And as soon as I have some extra cash, it's going straight to a Photoshop fund.