The beautiful potential of multimedia journalism

 It’s amazing the things we can do with the help of technology.

For the past four months, I have attended a Multimedia Journalism class at Bryan College with fifteen of my fellow students. It wasn’t always easy. We’ve cried and screamed and worried together. We’ve ditched class, interviewed each other in a last-ditch effort to finish an assignment and collectively mourned over the progression of technology when the iPad 2 was released not a month after we bought our fourth generation iPod Touches.

We’ve also learned more about multimedia journalism and mobile blogging than most people learn in years.

We’ve learned the basics of HTML, CSS and covered the critical information for other mark-up languages.  We’ve learned that social networking is no longer a messy forum for self-gratifying emotional outbursts, but a tool for collecting and connecting audiences worldwide.  We’ve learned how to edit video and audio, ethically manipulate photos for publication and use the multitude of online resources to bring our future newsgathering to whole new level.  We’ve learned to create, maintain and critique a beat news blog , of which this experiment was one. 

But often it hasn’t seemed like enough.  As one of my favorite speakers at CMANYC this year, Lynn Hoppes of ESPN.com, stated in his lecture on how blogging is changing the face of news,” You are already behind.”

“New media isn’t really being taught,” he stated to a group of maybe 40 students and teachers crammed into the small, overly warm conference room. “New media hasn’t happened yet. What they are teaching you today is ‘current media’.  You want to learn new media? You are already behind.”

(Want to hear more from CMANYC on multimedia?  Click here to listen to Erin Skarda from Times.com speak about “Multimedia Journalism in a Digital Age”)

 Listening to Hoppes, you’d think it impossible for any but the brightest of students to carry on in the looming tidal wave of the future.  And in some ways that’s true, this brave new world of journalism will have no place for slackers.   

In our textbook, “JournalismNext” by Mark Briggs, the author speaks about how the next few years will be dominated by the concepts of new media: hyper-localism, microblogging, crowd-sourcing, mobile reporting and aggregation, to name a few.

In the introduction to his book, Briggs comforts journalism students who often feel like the fast-paced world of multimedia is outpacing their capability to keep up, that they are already out-dated and unemployable.  

“The game isn’t over – it’s just getting started.  And, since tomorrow’s journalist inherently ‘get’ the Internet because you grew up with it, you have the opportunity to shape the future of journalism online like no generation has before….Interactive, transparent, collaborative journalism works. Digital technologies, some that have yet to be invented, will aid you, but they can’t replace a thoughtful, skilled professional with an entrepreneurial spirit. You will be ready to try, and fail, and try again.”

I’ve often failed with this blog: missing deadlines, doing assignments the night before and just generally falling short when it came to the quality of media I wanted to produce. 

However, if there’s one thing I’ve learned about the graces of new media, it’s that almost all of its potential lies in persistance.  Mistakes are easily made when using community writers, microblogging on the fly, or mobile blogging from a handheld device.  But they are just as easily corrected.  After all, multimedia isn’t something that is teachable in a lecture.  It’s a collective learning experience, something that is happening as we speak.

Though the class is over, I plan to try and continue learning about this strange journalistic phenomena by keeping up with trends in new media as it pertains to students and “cub reporters”.  The effort seems well worth it in the future: how else could a student journalist from a small, private college learn to create, edit and publish an entire post worth of content all within the span of a final period?  Like this one was.  

Briggs was right, it’s a frighteningly different world out there, but it’s a beautiful and exciting one, and I know that I, at least, am ready to discover it. I’ll echo Briggs in the closing of his introduction:

“Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. So, let’s get started.”

Finding an internship 101

Whether in J-school, a private college or attending a public university every Journalism major (as well as all our close cousins in Communications) has to undergo the dreaded search for an internship.

For some, it is the yearly struggle of the sophomore and junior classes, attempting to a fulfill the course requirement from hell. At other institutions, this feat is only to be endeavored by the proud and the few – the seniors who are best able to brave the cold, cruel job market.

All are alike in their mournful, frantic expressions as the deadline for tuition payment get’s closer and closer, and more and more applications are either rejected or left without response.

What? Thought you were alone? Not even close. Professionals across the board admit that times are tough for student journalists. In a 2002 (the begining of the recession) article by Kathryn Wenner of the Washinton Post, leading papers across the U.S. confess that internship positions are being cut due to the faltering economy:

“We, like everyone, are having to respond to the economy,’ says Peter Bhatia, executive editor of the Oregonian, which normally hires 15 students each summer for its widely respected program.”

Besides the cut-backs, students also have to worry about the competition for newsroom positions. The helpful news site Jobs4Journalists.com notes that often finding an available internship is as good as finding a fire-fight.

“Those in search of an entry level journalism job should prepare themselves for a battle, especially if they already live in, or want to relocate to, a major metropolitan area. Positions with major newspapers and magazines are highly coveted and as a result will attract a large number of applicants for every opening,” their website explains.

Where I attend at Bryan College, it’s not unusual to find students who have had several opportunities fall through. In fact, they seem to be in the majority.

But that’s no reason to give up hope, indeed, it’s impossible to even think it since internships are so necessary to a future journalist’s career.

“Getting those internships is just so important,” says Patty Noland, career development coordinator at the University of Kansas in Wenner’s article. “Not just to build their résumé, [but] to let them test the water, let them know what it’s like to work in a newsroom. You’ve got to know what it’s like before you decide to do it for the rest of your life.”

And there are several resources available to students desperately in search of what to do to meet the requirement. Below is some advice from both successful and non-successful Bryan College students on the do’s and don’t of an internship search.

*Look for interesting/unusual opportunities 

*Know what you want in advance

 *It’s never too early to try and get something you want

Whether or not your search is just begining or feels like it’s disasterously at the end, every source agrees that the best thing to do is stick out the process.

“Students go, ‘Oh, man, what’s going on?’ “says Joe Grimm, recruiting and developing editor of the Detroit Free Press. I think there’s a lot to be concerned about. But it’s not time to abandon ship. If you want to do this, hang in there.”

Shorthand savoir-faire?

Pardon my French, but when it comes to shorthand knowledge it seems like the majority of journalists ascribe more to the school of laissez-faire (“anything goes”) than the savor-faire (“complete proficiency”) school of thought so immensely favored by the previous generation of reporters. Time was when lack of shorthand savvy could keep you from receiving a degree from J-school, let alone a job in the field afterwards.

Today, there are students who have never even heard the word “shorthand”. For those just tuning in, this once industry standard note-taking system was developed as we know it in 16th century England, though the early Greeks and Chinese popularized the technique within their own cultures. The defining feature of the “language” is that it shortens the letter-strokes of a donor dialect and substitutes symbols for common vocabulary to improve the speed of the note-taker. The three most-used varieties today are Gregg, Teeline, and Pitman.

Thankfully, with the advent of digital recording technology and it’s gradual integration into society, shorthand knowledge has become less and less of a requirement and more just one of a million tools journalists can choose to keep in their reporters toolbox. Recording interviews is simpler, requires less effort, is more reliable, appears more trustworthy to the public and is easier to archive. It requires no special education and leaves the interviewer free to communicate directly with the person they are interviewing.

Given this advanced alternative to scribbling apparent nonsense on ancient pieces of paper (which is bad for the environment anyway), is shorthand then dead?

Not exactly. In some courts, it is still illegal to record even audio for fear of identifying defendants or witnesses by voice. Shorthand is the only viable solution to note-taking in this instance.

Taking physical notes also provides security during interviews. Audio recordings may be simpler to take, given the modern day “easy button” approach to technology, but that also means they are easier to mess up. Deleting (or failing to begin) your audio by accident is just as simple as recording it. Physical notes assure that you have something in the way of information with which to work.

John Carpenter, a Journalism instructor at Bryan College, mentions in the below video that it’s also a great tool for reassuring interviewees, making others feel as if the journalist is listening and creating a bond of trust.

http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US#/watch?v=YKuKBD7lDUc

But as journalist and commentator Charlie Beckett points out, things are still changing. He writes in his blog, Polis:

“There can be no harm in having a skill that doesn’t depend on a computer chip or a battery. But I suspect that there are now many other forms of journalism apart from straight reporting: features, commentary, video etc So is it less necessary? Those of us who have shorthand like to think that it is vital, but is it any more important than an ability to type fast enough for Twitter?”

Whether or not journalists of the future consistently continue on the tradition of shorthand usage or not, for the few who choose to utilize it, the method is invaluable.

The the real question J-students need to ask, though, is,”should I spend my time learning shorthand?” Decide for yourself: you probably won’t lose a job offer over your lack of knowledge, but all the experts agree that it certainly wouldn’t hurt.

iPod classroom

Freshman Daniel Jackson works in class on his blog for Multimedia Journalism. The course takes an in-depth look at the ever-expanding face of journalism and how students can better understand the tools of the future.

The importance of lighting

Sophomore Jordana Bollant poses as journalism and film students learn about the importance of light from instructor Chris Clark.

Advantageous Opportunities: CMANYC11

As J-students, we always keep our eyes peeled for chances to advance our knowledge of journalistic technique and upcoming field issues, right? And if taking advantage of such an opportunity happens to mean we take an 18-hour trip to the heart of New York City, so be it.

The experts agree, journalism conferences are a great way for students to get a better understanding of reporting theory and advice on how to stay current. Joe Hight, managing editor of the Oklahoman, says that they are also an excellent way to gain those oh-so-elusive bylines.

According to his advice column at CubReporters.org, conferences are one of seven key strategies to becoming a successful news writer. They “provide great avenues…to get a ‘byline rush’ or multiple bylines in a short period of time….And I can tell you it’s a lot more exciting to see your byline in a publication than that grade you receive on that term paper.”

Granted such sage counsel, myself, along with five other students from Bryan College and our respected journalism advisor have excused ourselves from classes for the week in order to attend College Media Advisor’s student conference in New York City. The convention promises to be one of “unconventional education and learning opportunities with movers and shakers in the media center of the world.”

Highlights of the week look to be immensely promising and include such speakers as Oscar nominated film-maker Judith Ehrlich and former White House correspondent Helen Thomas. I’m personally looking forward to attending Nils Rosdahl’s lecture on descriptive writing (termed “The eyes have it”) and maybe stopping by Michael Koretzky’s “Chicken Salad” workshop on throwing together award-winning paper designs in minutes.

Of course, our time there just happens to coincide with St. Patrick’s Day, so there will be plenty of sight and show-seeing as well. Snuggled up right now in a home in Aberdeen, MD after a 12-hour drive, though, all I can think about is how nice roaming from conference room to conference room will be compared to being cramped in a car. More updates tomorrow at the beginning of the convention. Keep checking back.

Twitter-twatter as a tool?

Who doesn’t’t love the smell of social networking in the morning? I wouldn’t know. My iPod’s alarm is carefully set each night to ensure that the first thing I wake up to is the blaring noise of Maroon 5’s “Sunday Morning” and quick rehash of the previous night’s status updates on Facebook. Recently, I joined Twitter and began giving their morning alerts a quick scan as well.

“Stop!”

“No…”

“Say it isn’t so.”

The reaction from many of my colleagues and friends was somewhat less than enthusiastic. Apparently, joining Twitter makes me narcissistic, vain and a general sheep in wolf’s clothing. I didn’t really expect the world to jump on this bandwagon with me, but it certainly wasn’t the response I expected.

My decision to join Twitter stemmed from reading a chapter of Mark Briggs’ new book JournalismNext, an interesting presentation of what new journalists can expect the future of reporting to look like and how they can go about breaking into that world.

In chapter 4, Briggs discusses the radical new concept of microblogging, a way to get in, get out and go get lunch. Using special microblogging platforms, of which Twitter is by far the most popular, journalists can write brief messages (usually no more than 140 characters) updating their audience on need-to-know issues and giving links for further information.

“[T]hese applications signal the emergence of the ‘Real-Time Web’. By unlocking so much information that previously would not have been published, platforms like Twitter and FriendFeed have unseated Google for some users who want to know what is happening online right now….it’s obvious that microblogging is going to play a role in the future of journalism,” Briggs writes.

And indeed, professionals are already sitting up and paying attention. A great resource for learning more about microblogging and the future of journalism is a collaborative blog written by Craig Kanalley of the Huffington Post and DePaul University students – called Twitter Journalism.

“If it’s not in 140 characters or less, you may lose them,” Kanalley says in a post on “A New Generation of News”. “Short, sweet, and to the point….Welcome to the age of Twitter and Facebook. An era in which news isn’t just brief, everything is.”

Twitter has moved beyond simply servicing emo teenagers as a way to get feelings off their chests. It’s become a social, political and commercial powerhouse. Networkers have used microblogging to do everything from gauging public opinion on new industrial products to finding lost children and saving lives during disasters. Think about what has only recently happened in Egypt. Twitter literally started that revolution. We’re dealing with a very powerful journalistic tool, and only a fool would let annoyance with a past reputation stop them from using it.