Color me ridiculously busy, because I think precious little is not my job

Yeah, so it’s been a little slow here, but thanks to all the readers, commenters, and linkers who have kept that New Journalism Skillset post kicking all week, especially the Italians, who might not know that io posso parlare un po d’italiano, perche sono sposato con una bella donna che e mezza-italiana.

Some of the same questions came up today in an e-mail from a young reporter who was the executive editor at the SJSU student paper a year ago when I was writing for it.

He was wondering what all this Information Center stuff meant, and whether journalists should all expect to be filing from their cars by year’s end.

He said it more eloquently than that, of course.

(Note to said reporter: My cubicle isn’t really that pleasant – is yours?)

Lucky me, what do I find in my aggregator tonight but this gem from Matt Waite, a staff writer — albeit a database and CAR-savvy staff writer — at the St. Petersburg Times in Florida:

“But if you want to get and keep a job in journalism today, keep this in mind: The words “not my job” should never leave your mouth. If you find yourself saying that audio (or video, or online, or multimedia) isn’t your job, time to stop and think.”

Go read his post about jumping into an audio project today, just because he realized it was the best way to tell a story — not because he was trained to do it, because it was his “job” to do it, or because he wanted to try something new.

Then come back and tell me about the projects you’re jumping into that aren’t “your job.”

What exactly, is your job description as a journalist anyway?

To inform? To tell a story? To entertain?