JOURNALISM and the younger generation make a potent combination in this day and age. Social media has single-handedly revolutionised the way news is created, read and shared; and driving this paradigm shift is Gen Y.

“We have everything from breaking news on Twitter to websites like Buzzfeed that are actually hiring proper journalists now,” said Ling Low, editor-in-chief of online magazine Poskod.MY, of how Buzzfeed can even flourish solely based on creating content driven by virality. “I really think the Internet’s impact on journalism has been a game-changer.”

Indeed, a new era of journalism has arrived and those new to the industry must adapt quickly or risk falling behind. Truth be told, balancing between traditional and new age media methods is a daunting prospect for those only schooled in the modern ways of the world.

Thankfully, Poskod.MY will be reproducing Poskod Journalism Campus this year for The Cooler Lumpur Festival from June 20-22 to help with that.

Poskod.my editor-in-chief Ling Low is the person spearheading the Poskod Journalism Campus, which she hopes will help nurture a new generation of social media-savvy journalists.

Featuring a new range of interactive talks, workshops and panel discussions, the Campus will seek to generate dialogues and provide insight into today’s fast-moving world of journalism.

R.AGE will be playing its part at the Campus by sponsoring and moderating the “Journalism for Gen Y” panel discussion, where we will be drawing from our work in social media journalism which has won us (ahem) several local and international awards (#shamelessplug).

This couldn’t come at a better time, especially with a new breed of journalists entering the fray, according to Low.

“Journalists today have to be aware that it’s not just about what you’re writing on, but how people read it too,” she explained.

“A lot of people are sharing and reacting to news on Facebook, and inevitably, that starts to shape the way people write headlines, for example.”

And these are some of the deliberations the panel discussion will aim to tackle, including how social media like Twitter and Instagram can be used effectively, while retaining the use of traditional tools of the trade.

Journalism for Gen Y will see leading editors and journalists of varying levels of experience and expertise taking the stage to share their know how in this watershed era of journalism.

As the icing on the cake, the panel will be moderated by our very own R.AGE editor, Ian Yee.

“Ian and I have a similar vision – to help nurture the next generation of journalists by providing training and workshops, which R.AGE also does through initiatives like BRATS, for example,” Low revealed.

“We recognise that journalism isn’t something that will improve by itself, and that we need to put in the time and resources to help people raise the standard of Malaysian journalism.”

For more information on Journalism for Gen Y as well as the other activities for Poskod Journalism Campus, visit poskod.my.