Learning to be a mutable journalist

Since my job morphed from “head of blog development” to “editorial development manager” (which happened a while before the job title change), I’ve struggled to give a clear, one sentence description of what I do. The closest I’ve got is “figure out how changes in technology, journalism and social media present us with business opportunities as a publisher – and then do everything I can to make sure we take advantage of that”. Not exactly a conversation-starter at a dinner party.

This problem is afflicting the whole of journalism, I think. Jobs are becoming less defined as the work we do becomes more mutable. Arnold King sums up this trend in employment thus:

The paradox is this. A job seeker is looking for something for a well-defined job. But the trend seems to be that if a job can be defined, it can be automated or outsourced.

The marginal product of people who need well-defined jobs is declining. The marginal product of people who can thrive in less structured environments is increasing.

Something to think about…

[via Jackie Danicki]