Solo Journalism : The Future Of Journalism

I’m sure you’re probably wondering what in heavens Solo Journalism entails on seeing this headline but I tell us it’s fast becoming a thing and there’s more than enough reason for you/yours to join the moving train.

Let’s begin with the fact that ideally, A journalist is a person who collects, writes, or distributes news or other current information to the public.  Conventionally, a journalist works with a media outfit – Print – Sun, Vanguard, Independence, Complete Fashion.

Broadcast – Silverbird, AIT, Channels, Ebonylife, Cool FM and the rest.
Solo means “Done by/for self” ; hence, a Solo Journalist is a journalist who runs his or her media outfit by him/herself. It could be a blog or website.

Tell you what? Forget a degree in journalism or English or some other writing course. You don’t have to study Mass Communications before lighting a spark in journalism. I mean, it’d be awesome if you do but if you can’t, don’t beat yourself. You basically just need to have a knowledge of something, consistently express your thoughts on the subject and viola, you’re the newest solo journalist . It’s not exactly as easy in practice, it requires a lot more than just loving the idea of being a solo journalist or ‘working for yourself’ as that’s the 21st century Nigerian dream.

Zachary Kyra-Derkson is a solo journalist who only writes about Elon Musk, producing two articles every week. Uncle Elon is definitely a media rave and as such would interest people to read about due to how influencial he is. Harrisson Terry has over 10,000 subscribersand he publishes just once every week. We’re no strangers to Linda Ikeji and how she carved a niche for herself being a solo journalist.
This ever rising breed of journalists are ready to take risks that the conventional media can’t take. A solo journalist thrives on being opinionated and expressing thoughts from their own point of view. Though the big media put out editorials, they play safe with the opinions expressed. Being careful not to lose readership. This style of journalism brings about rapport between readers and writers. The both arguing a point or a series of points. Almost every solo journalist has that reader who is always opposing the thoughts expressed by journalist. Why the argument could be intense at some points, there-in lies a selling point for solo journalist.

The solo journalist isn’t exactly interested in being the first to report issues as typical of the conventional media. Who cares about that in 2017? All we want is a voice of truth, a voice that we can understand and a voice that we can relate to. This, the solo journalist provides.

You may argue about the need for editing and gate keeping. You may argue that the solo journalist won’t compete favourably with the big media who are investing in Journobots (robot journalists). Well, with the solo journalists, we are sure human writers are still going to be around a while longer. Who says that AI can’t even help solo journalists? With GRAMMARLY, a solo journalist can easily edit in less than a twinkle of an eye. Switching from British English to American English with ease. YOAST helps the solos journalist create contents that are SEO friendly. This certainly isn’t all…
Especially in a generation like ours, where owning a smartphone is now like a walk in the park. You really don’t need some office space or excessive capital.