Meet the Journalist of the Future

Three qualities once made journalists valuable -- their access, their expertise, and their monopoly on mass communications.

Now that all three of these traits have been broadly disseminated via the Web, what now makes us special -- and worth paying for?

Adam Westbrook takes a stab at answering that, on his personal blog. Currently working as a broadcast journalist for Bauer Media, one of Europe’s largest media companies, he has more than 5 years experience on the front line of broadcast news. He recently accompanied the last British troops serving in Iraq as they prepared for withdrawal, reporting from Baghdad and Basra, where he produced content for radio, online video and audio slideshows.

"I’ve covered some of the biggest stories of the past three years," he writes. "I’ve interviewed government ministers, genocide survivors, ex-cons and premiership footballers."

In his essay, "Introducing the Journalist of the Future," he paints his portrait "based on books, blogs, a couple of talks I’ve given recently and all the noise on Twitter."

Westbrook argues that we must become Web designers, collaborators, specialists, flexible adapters, entrepreneurs, storytellers, jacks of all trades.

Take a look and see if you agree, and let us know what your vision of tomorrow's journalist looks like.