Media Update | Five tips for being a successful freelance writer
Being a freelancer sounds enticing but what does it really mean to leave your office job and go it alone? For one, courage. Before you take the leap into freelancing, this article offers some sage advice to ponder on. First and most importantly, you may want to do your research to see what options are out there for you. Read the article here.
—
The Atlantic | Twitter should abolish trending topics
In the early days of Twitter, ‘trending topics’ were the place to go to catch up on the latest news. But over the last few years, it has become one of the reasons why many a Twitter user has quit the social media platform. Trending topics have also been used to spread fake news, misinformation, to promote cancel culture, and for advertising topics far removed from the issues being discussed. This article takes a humorous look at what the famous sidebar has become and whether it is still worth having. Read more here.
Want to stay up to date with the latest journalism and media innovation news from the African continent? Subscribe to our newsletter.
Journalism.co.uk | Must-have skills for a media startup CEO
Tortoise CEO Katie Vanneck-Smith shares her journey as the co-founder of the slow journalism start-up which launched in 2019 and today has over 130,000 members signed up to its platform. With media start-ups mushrooming all over the world in a bid to be the next big thing, Vanneck-Smith offers some invaluable advice for media entrepreneurs. Read the article here.
—
Poynter | Journalism schools don’t teach audience engagement
Journalism schools are struggling to keep up with the pace of innovation in the media, particularly digital media. This means that skills such as audience engagement are left out of the curriculum. This piece explores the importance of audience journalism in today’s fast-changing news environment as well as how these skills can help make media students more employable. Read the article here.