The multimedia craze in journalism
It’s been the talk of the journalism world recently. People have been in a frenzy discussing the future of the industry. Will print newspapers one day fade into oblivion? In the age of online journalism, iPhone news applications, Twitter, Digg, and the plethora of media outlets and ways of spreading news, what will become of traditional journalism? These are all questions we face. I am confident that journalism will never diminish, but that it just may come in different forms. People will always want to know what’s going on. People will always want to tell their story or read the stories of other people. What we do as journalists will never be less of a value in society. We just have so many more options for distributing stories.
Last semester, I took a course that was offered in conjunction with reporting. It was the first time the college offered a course quite like this one. In Multimedia Reporting, we completed two audio projects, one Soundslides project, and a video project. The work was intensely time consuming. Using Audacity and Windows Movie Maker, we edited audio and video. The skills were not diffiicult to learn but the projects did take several hours to complete.
Now I am taking Communications on the Internet which I am very excited about. In this course, we will learn basic web design with Cascading Stylesheets (CSS), Extensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML), Photoshop and audio editing. I will also build two Web sites—one that is personal and one that is explanatory journalism.
Now that I know a few multimedia skills, I am thrilled to be able to apply them to stories I write. And after this semester, I should be able to design Web sites which I have always wanted to learn.
I think all the multimedia and new media are extremely beneficial to journalism. Now the news is so much more interactive. On news Web sites, people can comment on articles and can decide which news they want to be delievered to their e-mail inbox or Google reader. Through videos and audio slideshows, journalists can show and not just tell. I love seeing multimedia packages as a companion to a well-written and well-reported article. The innovation in the forms of new media is tremendous and makes storytelling so much more dynamic.
At the same time, I think journalists and students need to always remember the importance of basic reporting skills. One of my fears with the advent of multimedia is for students to develop savvy internet skills and let their reporting slide. This is something that we should never let happen. Journalism is like fine cuisine—it doesn’t matter how flashy and fascinating the presentation may be, if the substance isn’t appetizing, it’s worthless. Presentation will never outweigh accuracy, truth and other tenets of good reporting. As long as this is kept intact, I am fascinated by multimedia and can’t wait to learn more.
“It’s all storytelling, you know. That’s what journalism is all about.”
-Tom Brokaw
One in 8 million is an awesome example of using audio and pictures in a slideshow to tell stories. I also love how each story focuses on a unique person. Most are not famous or particulary noteworthy. Many are normal people you might find on the Subway—people who have a story to tell. And the New York Times gives them a voice in this news project.
The Boston Globe created this outstanding special on Ted Kennedy. The video was moving and heartfelt and the music spectacular. The writing is poignant. An overall fine piece of journalism.
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