IT'S amazing how much the recession's changed journalism.

Just two years ago, when I was studying the profession at The University of Cumbria, I was being told by its lecturers that the one thing I needed to do was specialise. It didn't matter whether I specialised in horse racing or weddings or steam trains, just as long as I carved a niche in something.

Little did they know the country was just getting strapped in for a rollercoaster ride.

Now - several title closures, mass redundancies and office relocations later - the word from the senior hacks I trust most is to do the exact opposite, by branching out. The BBC's Robert Peston argued superbly earlier this year that we're no longer reporters for newspapers, but journalists who have to know a thing or two about photography, videos and radio too.

The current recession might not be the death of journalism, but I think editors everywhere are waking to the fact we're no longer Sun or Guardian readers, but a band of Bing searchers who live their lives on Facebook and tweet to let people know how they are.

It's like discovering your fellow Osmonds fans have all moved on to the Human League.

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