Today's news, tomorrow's journalist

One of the first things I remember learning about being a journalist was the concept that “news is new.” As true as that is about the writing and news selection process, it’s beginning to ring all too clear for how we consume and present the news. It seems a constant phrase I’ve been hearing lately is that print journalism is “dead.” While this had me concerned about the future of my career, I realized that even if the medium of newspapers begins to dwindle, I will always have my fact-finding and news skills, which carry over into whatever method of information consumption is popular at the time.
It became very evident to me how different the role of the journalist is becoming when my roommate decided that she was going to enroll in the convergence sequence. I have to admit; I thought this idea was rather odd. Why learn how to do so many things when you could specialize in one? Then I saw all the innovative things her sequence was doing: listening in and watching KOMU meetings through Internet video, pitching their stories to them over the Internet. Then my own Missourian began to do text casting, which by most accounts, was exceedingly popular.
I got to experience this kind of convergence in Jefferson City last year, by turning all of my print stories into radio stories for KBIA and posting both versions online. It was really remarkable how well our newsroom worked together, everyone sharing information, and making sure that all the stories we produced were of the highest quality. Although I have now switched to the presentation side of the news, that experience of using a wide variety of tools to make new and information available was invaluable.
We discussed in class all the different ways that we consume information in 2006. The idea that struck me the most was how information-hungry our society (specifically my generation) is. The Internet facilitates the ability to leave CNN.com on your desktop and hit the “refresh” button every so often and never be out of the loop on all of the world’s happenings. The Internet may ease the ability at which we can access news, but is this decreasing news values? Perhaps it allows the trumpeting of details, an inadvertent problem that aren’t necessary. Just a little over a decade ago, people received their news only a few times a day when it was “given” to them, in the form of a daily newspaper, radio report or newscast. In this case, news may be new, but is it necessary?
In their book “The News About the News,” Leonard Downie and Robert Kaiser note that while many thought the Internet would be the beginning of a new brand of journalism, it has instead been the most quick and effective way to distribute journalism. Although this may be true, it is also has limitless possibilities – not only the amount of people that can be reached, but also an ending supply of visual and print media that don’t have the constrictions of a TV set, radio or newspaper. The opportunities of this tool are undeniable, but Dowie and Kaiser warn that using it to its full potential will only occur “if the owners of the news organizations are willing to support the evolution of this new medium and take advantage of the opportunities it offers” (Downie and Kaiser, 218).
The next question that arises in my mind is what will the Internet look like in another 15 or 20 years. Computers will progressively get smaller; perhaps everyone will have all-in-one devices that will allow instant access to everything – well I suppose those are available now. As Dowie and Kaiser observe, consumers will be able to “watch whatever they want whenever they want it.” Regulations may change so that the Internet won’t even look the same anymore. I think its safe to say that journalism will still continue, and perhaps have an even better market to cater to. But with this access to information comes a serious danger: That news will lose its objectivity and credibility if we allow anyone to claim themselves to be a journalist. This is not to say that civic journalism is inherently without credibility, but if it isn’t labeled as such, the potential for news becoming skewed and inaccurate is inevitable.
The eMprint edition of the Missourian is a really great example of how the news can mold to fit whatever medium its readership needs. The ability to have newspaper-style presentation that most people enjoy, combined with the convenience of the Internet, as well as other capabilities shows just how cutting-edge the newspaper business could be. I am fully confident that we, as an industry, are clever enough to keep up with the demands of a new market, even if it comes in a format we ourselves aren’t too keen about. As a member of the next generation of journalists, I have no fear that we always find ways to communicate the news and keep our communities informed, no matter how we communicate it.