media update’s Adam Wakefield spoke to Eyewitness News (EWN) senior multimedia journalist Thomas Holder about what it takes to be a journalist.

What do you believe journalists working in media should have in their skill set?

I think video skills are more important than ever for a journalist because more news companies are shaping their departments as ‘digital first’.

Twitter is almost always the first place news is broken, and if you do so with an image or video then better for it. Therefore, acquiring and maintaining good sources, being on the scene, endurance and flexibility are crucial. The ability to understand and deliver a story from multiple angles are abilities that have always been essential to the intrepid reporter.

One of my former editors always emphasised that 'If you’re not first, you’re last'. So many skills are required to be first and maintain a quality when doing so. One must be able to deliver stories in mediums that people desire and understand.

It is pointless tweeting if your subscribers don’t read. Thus, inherent in good reporting today is the ability to be flexible with your audience and with the platforms they engage in.

What do you think is the public’s biggest misunderstanding about how journalists work?     

One of the biggest misperceptions is that journalists are activists. We are regularly accused of taking sides; supporting rival political groups or factions.  

More surprisingly is that people think journalists are paid really well. According to PayScale, the average salary for a journalist in South Africa is R123 398 per annum. People may assume because we are in the public eye we live a life of glamour.   

People don’t realise that to get that story about the 1 000 trapped miners near Welkom, you first have to drive for five hours, sleep for just an hour at 02:00 in a car parked outside a mine shaft and then only complete your work 32 hours after reporting to the office at 07:00 the previous morning.    

As a multimedia journalist, how do you go about upskilling yourself?  

When being proactive, maintaining your agency is essential, which is often easier said than done.   

We use our mobile phones for almost everything, and the web is a great place to stay up-to-date on which apps work best and how.  

I [personally] believe that YouTube is possibly the ultimate learning tool. I must have spent hours on this platform learning new skills and figuring out editing techniques, even after working as a video journalist.  

For more information, visit www.ewn.co.za or www.thomasholder.co.za.    

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The actual work involved with being a journalist can often come as a surprise, considering the myths surrounding the industry. Read more in our article, Debunking 5 myths about journalism.