Conventional wisdom would have you believe that veteran journalists are screwed when it comes to multimedia and online journalism.

Recent grads and students will begin taking over all the jobs, and veteran journalists, with outdated skills, will be left out. That makes sense, but it is wrong.

In a perverse and often baffling set of circumstances, most j-schools are not teaching students online skills that journalism needs to transition to a more modern profession (and few journalism professors are qualified to teach online journalism). Many people consider recent graduates to often be the employees most resistant to change. Far too many students still romanticize1970s-style investigative reporting (it was a great era in journalism, but that’s not what we are facing today).

This is not good news for journalism, but it is good news for veteran journalists. It means veteran journalists have similar skill sets to most j-students and recent grads, and they have a lot more experience. Experience is worth a lot when it comes to journalism.

Now, this in no, way, shape or form means that veteran journalists can rest on their laurels. Hardly. Veteran journalists who don’t take the time to learn new skills will find themselves unemployed within the next few years.

Journalism can’t survive with journalists like that. But this is still good news for veteran journalists who are willing to learn new skills, study at Borders University and Barnes and Noble College, attend seminars and sign up for classes. Enterprising and inquisitive journalists have a bright future.

Here is a great place for veteran journalists who want to know which skills to learn and how to start learning them. Howard Owens has a checklist that every non-online journalist should complete. I’m always willing to recommend books to check out at Borders (I learned many of my Web skills through Borders U).

I also strongly encourage people to just spend time on the Web, play around and learn new things. Become a Web native. Anyone can.

Few of the people who attended Poynter’s seminar on online storytelling with audio and images this January were Web natives before the seminar started. Many are now trying to learn everything they can about multimedia and online journalism.

The AP’s Paula Froke has started a blog about her adventures in multimedia. She has quickly built an impressive blog that allows her to experiment with a wide-array of multimedia. Everyday she is adding more skills that will make her an even better more valuable asset to journalism.

Veteran journalists who see the changes in journalism as an opportunity will find themselves in more demand then ever.

Get started today on learning new skills.

Mindy McAdams has a post about how many journalism internships don’t pay, yet internships are a requirement for employment at most journalism companies.

I want to know how many internships you had during college, what industry they were in and if they paid or not.

I had three internships during college: My first was at a law firm for $10 an hour, my second was as a business intern for the Chicago Tribune for $10 and hour and my third was at a mid-large daily newspaper for credits (unpaid).

I was able to do an unpaid internship for credit because I did it while classes were in session. I was also able to take one less class because of it and was still able to work my campus job.

The unpaid internship did not impact me financially, but I would not have been able to do an unpaid internship over the summer because not only would I have not been able to afford housing, but I also needed to make money for school. Plus, if you have read my post about how journalists need to learn business and marketing, you would know I’m not arrogant or stupid enough to dig myself into a deep hole of debt for a company that has revenues — at least — in the millions.

Far too many journalists are willing to accept low pay and poor working conditions as almost some sort of badge of honor. Being broke is not what the cool kids do. I’m not sure who told you that.