Backpacking Journalism

When it comes to the future of media, in this case, news broadcasting, I believe the key is versatility and spontaneity. After reading both Stone and Steven’s notions on the very same topic, I felt that Steven’s had a more practical and flexible idea of what we need to propel media into the next generation.

With technology constantly advancing and with society becoming more open to this process, I feel the only way to deal with the changes are to embrace them. Steven’s recognises the common misunderstanding that the new age reporter has become a ‘jack of all trades’. Whilst it is important that the modern reporter has the understanding of all the technological facets of reporting, it is not necessary for one to be sound in all areas. Rather the best of the best is selected from a team of persons on the site, and then accumulated to create a piece worth listening to.

Stone uses Gary Kebbel’s comment “I think they are simply trying to eliminate jobs” to suggest that the idea of a backpacker journalist is purely a cheap excuse to cut down the jobs and thus the budget. This concept loses its value when you look at the money spent to train and co-ordinate these teams in order to send them out to make a story.

In today’s society people demand to know what is happening minute-to-minute, instead of day-to-day or even hour-to-hour. With the technology there is no excuse for us to be behind in our news. The backing journalist (in a team or individual) makes this possible, bringing us stories from places we’ve never even heard of. Preston Mendenhall’s is a great example of this because he was able to cross into a foreign country by himself in circumstances that did not allow for a crew, he had all the equipment he needed and was able to bring us a story we otherwise never would have had.

I think that Stone needs to be more open to what is inevitable, and rather then making up excuses and trying to control the situation she should embrace it and realise the possibilities open to us in the future.

NICCI MEEK