A modern worker in the media sphere, including a journalist, is sandwiched between an unexplored practice and media trainers and consultants who want to teach him everything new. The choice is small: either to comprehend everything by trial and error or to trust those who have analyzed everything, organized and are ready to convey valuable knowledge in a concentrated form (but without guarantees of assimilation).

Therefore, the issues of vocational guidance, education and practical training of media workers in general and journalists in particular are relevant. The problem of today’s education is not the lack of useful information, but its verification and classification. At the personal level, there is no question of access to education – more important is the selection of knowledge and the prioritization of skills. We are interested in the practical side of the question: what is needed to be relevant and in demand today?

The skills of a successful journalist can be roughly divided into two large groups: understanding common things and practical skills. Most active modern authors already know everything intuitively or potentially can. You just need to focus, approach the acquisition and use of skills in a systematic way. It is also useful to personify knowledge and skills by imagining some kind of enlightened media professional. Create an image of, if not perfect, then an actual contemporary journalist.

This article, perhaps, repeats what has already been said and for someone obvious things. The value of the material is in grouping by different areas of understanding and in navigating through thematic articles. In some cases, references to previous issues of the journal “Journalist” with articles on relevant topics are indicated in brackets.