Anyone can be a journalist.

You can call it citizen journalism. You can call it what you like. But in the modern age, anyone can be a journalist.

You don’t have to be qualified to write a high standard blog. You don’t even have to be qualified to be published in print. And online gives you the platform to create, edit and submit whatever you like to the web.

But what does that mean for professional journalists?

Is there a place for them in society? Or will journalism merely turn in to a hobby, forced to run alongside a regular 9 to 5 job.

Journalists aren’t in it for the money. They are in it owing to a passion for writing. For creativity.

Journalism is a tough industry to get in to, even more so due to recent job cuts, and the prospect of entering the real world and finding a job after university is a daunting one for many of my third year colleagues.

Today, we were introduced to the opinions of Liam Sloan, a 24-year-old reporter at the Newbury Evening News. As journalists are expected to diversify their knowledge, and be able not only to write, but to film, record and “put online”, is it fair that they are still subject to a poor wage (in comparative terms)? Aren’t they effectively doing four jobs?

And having a passion for writing isn’t enough anymore. You might be the best writer in the world, but unless you can put a video package together, and put it online, then it seems that your days may be numbered.

I think the following sentence sums up quite a few of my colleages viewpoints at this time:

Mr Sloan explained that a significant number of young journalists, whilst enthusiastic about their jobs, have become pessimistic about their future in the career. (Society of Editors)

And maybe the failure to discover a successful online business model, fast becoming a buzzword in the industry, means that soon journalism will be solely reliant on “citizen” journalism. Fewer people will be able to make a living on journalism, particularly in the current economic climate.

The future of journalism remains one of confusion. Only the most dedicated will see it through.