Need Journalism Experience? Try Contributing to User Generated Websites

 Let’s face it, there’s a lot of junk on the internet these days. User-generated content has all sorts of benefits and downsides, ranging from valuable intellectual commentary to irrelevant rants about Big Brother contestants. But from a journalistic standpoint, the proliferation of commentary via the internet can have infinite possibilities.

From my experience, the key word there is can. What you get out of online writing is directly related to what you put in. Take it seriously; gain valuable skills and it could have a great impact on your career.

I’m currently contributing to a few different websites, including a travel website called Cosmotourist, Current.com, a personal blog and Triond, a site which pays contributors an amount of money for features.

From what I’ve found, I’ve been able to gain different skills from each site which I’ve added to my CV and shown to potential employers. For example, every employer wants writers who are able to identify a particular audience, and produce articles which target them directly. Current.com is great for this, as their rating system helps you get direct feedback on which articles and commentary are popular.

Moreover, in the world of modern journalism, employers want people who have lots of multimedia skills, and many websites these days will give you basic web content management skills, and these don’t go unnoticed if highlighted on your CV.

Personal blogs help you to get your voice heard and contribute to a global online dialogue, which could grab the attention to future employers. The internet has made journalism far more accessible and there are lots of opportunities which us budding journalists can’t afford to pass up.