Skip to content

BBC World News Anchor: “Journalists Should Master a Number of Additional Technologies”

Recently, BBC World News anchor-journalist Pooneh Ghoddoosi was in Yerevan to participate in Barcamp Yerevan 2011. She has worked for BBC Persian Television as presenter of the interactive programme “Nobat-e Shoma” (Your Turn) and is currently managing a project examining and promoting effective utilisation of social media across the BBC World Service.

Pooneh Ghoddoosi told JNews how she pictures the future of journalism and shared the secrets of how to be a competitive journalist.

-You are mentioning that there will always be someone who will know more about what is written or prepared by a journalist. How should the journalist overcome this challenge?

Recently, BBC World News anchor-journalist Pooneh Ghoddoosi was in Yerevan to participate in Barcamp Yerevan 2011. She has worked for BBC Persian Television as presenter of the interactive programme “Nobat-e Shoma” (Your Turn) and is currently managing a project examining and promoting effective utilisation of social media across the BBC World Service.

Pooneh Ghoddoosi told JNews how she pictures the future of journalism and shared the secrets of how to be a competitive journalist.

-You are mentioning that there will always be someone who will know more about what is written or prepared by a journalist. How should the journalist overcome this challenge?

-First of all journalists shouldn’t fear that others will tell or write about the thing s/he is going to cover. Today it is no longer possible to astonish the audience with stories you found. There are no new stories, but at the same there are millions of new stories. It’s like the Hollywood movie scenarios. For example, thousands of Hollywood films are produced about the love story of a girl and a boy, but none of them is like the other. You can always sell the same story, but with a new “dress”, new conclusion , new outcome. You can always watch a film which will make you think, which will give you an opportunity to ponder over the human relations. That is, it’s no longer important the peculiarity of selection of a material or a topic for reporting, but the specificity of its presentation, provision.

-Often many experts speak about the newspapers’ closure, about the trend of radio and television to the internet. Many media outlets are afraid to surrender in the race of social media.

-It is important to have a good story, and there is no need to worry about the future of newspapers. If the story is good, then by all means it will be read. Now many newspapers on the Internet are paid and they earn money. Of course, I can get tremendous free information on the Internet, but I want to know, for example, what this particular journalist who writes on economy has written regarding that issue, as I know that the writer is smart, makes wonderful analyses, etc.

-What else is required of а competitive journalist today, in addition to the unique presentation and multilateral analysis?

-Currently journalists should master a number of additional technologies. You may not say, I have a nice appearance. That’s not enough or, I can only make good videos, but I cannot write a text for online version, or I can make only radio stories. Today, the journalist should know everything, because the rivalry is rather high, the market of journalism is permanently supplemented with new generations mastering a great number of new media tools and skills. Today, the journalist should be able to prepare a video, to record for radio, to write for online publications, to edit in one’s own computer and to send all these to newsroom through the computer. Today it is necessary to master multimedia tools and always have a new approach, a new proposal, and a new message. If repeat the same told by others or write the same you have written before, I will not simply read you.

Source: JNews.am