Building a Website as a Journalist

           Today, the internet is incredibly widespread and accessible, and it can be used to a professional journalist's advantage. Having an online resume site or web presence allows a journalist to showcase their skills at no cost except for the time it takes to create content and design a social media platform. Once a blog or website is developed, anybody can read its content. This gives professional journalists free exposure and allows possible employers to find out more about them and, if desired, to contact them. Along with possible employers, a journalist can gain a public following if people enjoy reading their content and can then bring attention to topics they believe to be interesting, triggering conversation among the people.

           Sites can be built using a variety of different tools. There are free website-building tools with ready-made templates, such as Blogger and Weebly, available for anybody who wants to write. These websites are a great start for those who aren't sure how to begin since they are pretty user-friendly. For those who have experience in basic coding, HTML5 and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) can be used to create a more personalized website. Whichever route a journalist decides to go, creating a website will allow them to present their ideas, content, and style for people to view and gain an idea of who they are and what it is they write about. 

           Branding is defined as creating a unique name or image for a product. In the case of an online web presence, the journalist's content is the product, and its unique name and image are the quality with which the content is written, the topics it covers, and the level of credibility displayed throughout it, among countless other qualities. Consistency is when conformity is applied to the journalist's website/blog design along with their words. This means that the overall theme of the web page or blog should be consistent throughout each post in order to be aesthetically pleasing, and the writer's opinions and facts shared throughout their writing should be the same, unless they have reason to change, in which case their audience must be informed. Keeping branding and consistency in mind is important when creating a web presence or online resume, for these affect how people will think of the journalist.

           If there is an opportunity at which a file must be linked to within the web page or blog, it is necessary to pay attention to the digital format of the file. Make sure that the digital format is compatible with most web browsers before adding the link onto the website or blog. Some digital formats used to display text that are widely compatible are text documents (such as Microsoft Word) and PDF files. Popular image digital file formats are JPG, PNG, and GIFs. Note that digital file formats for sound bites and video clips will take longer to load on a browser. If a journalist wants to upload a file and is uncertain if it will work, they should do some research on that particular file format to find whether it is a widely-compatible format or not. However, these types of files will usually enhance the journalists website or blog by providing a variety of information for their audience, whether it be supplemental reading, visual representation, or audio.

           A journalist should organize their website so that a home page is available for blog posts and writing content, an about page is available to provide a description of the writer and their content, a contact page is accessible for those who wish to contact the writer, and any other pages are separated by category. One might even separate their posts by category so they are easier to find by topic. A good example is this journalist's blog: https://stevebuttry.wordpress.com/. The journalist, Steve Buttry, has organized his blog to be user-friendly and easy to understand. A good example of a well-organized website can be found here: http://www.andrewkardon.com/. Andrew Kardon, a freelance writer, displays all necessary information neatly throughout his website and uses good design to make it visually pleasing. However a website is organized, it should be easy to use for the audience and provide a pleasing aesthetic.

           Creating a web presence can help a journalist represent themselves better as a professional by showing that they are committed enough to their work to create a web presence in the first place. Not all journalists are familiar with web design, but creating a website or blog shows that they are willing to learn new things in order to get their writing out there. A web presence also gives a journalist a reason to write for the public, which in itself provides a basis of their writing style and credibility. Professionalism can be based off of how strong their content is and how well they present themselves. Putting in the effort to make it easier for potential employers to find them and discover their writing style through their web presence puts those journalists ahead of the game and exudes a confidence directly correlated to professionalism.