Catching Up

Backpack Journalism:  

  Upon hearing of MU's journalism program my senior year of high school I instantly knew I had to visit Mizzou.  After learning about the Convergence program I was sold.  My goal for the past two years has been to become the ultimate journalist or (in my mind) a Convergence Journalist.

Having the technological skills to create a web page, the writing expertise to develop and edit a story, and the artistic knowledge to take great footage make a convergence journalist extremely valuable.  In this job market having skills that advance you beyond the majority of your peers has become almost necessary for a person to get any type of decent job.  I feel that Mizzou's convergence program suits the new era of journalism that has slowly taken over most of (if not all) news stations.

In Martha Stone's article she worries that journalist won't be able to deliver the feast a great multimedia package can offer if done by several people who all specialize in their personal fields.  While this may be true, I agree with Jane Stevens who believes that convergence journalists will specialize, but the story will determine how they deliver the news not their skills set.  I think Mizzou's program, which allows a person to choose their emphasis (or specialty) is well suited for the new market of multimedia journalism.

Multimedia Award Winning Pictures:

I thought "A Third Tour of Duty" in the Best Multimedia Story or Essay was extremely well done.  The title caught my eye when I was scrolling through the winners.  My friend's brother is on his third tour in Iraq and the title hit home with me.  I can completely understand why this story won.  To begin with the story was packaged extremely well.  The opening page is actually a clip, that pauses on the stories main character.  I think that is impressive.  Their use of map graphics, tabs outlining the story, and photo gallery put this story over the top.  The story is an emotional trigger for many people experiencing similar situations.  Overall, this story was excellent and something to shoot for in my own journalism.

photos

The spot news photos caught my eye more than any of the slideshows or other photos because of their "rawness". I was wondering if and where the photos were published... If they were I am sure that there had to have been a huge backlash against the person taking the photos and the media outlet that published it.

The photo with a severed head is the most disturbing, but the one with the little girl covered in the blood of her dead parents is by far the best one. It has so many different things to it; the little girl, the bottom half of a soldier, his gun, the light on his gun, the blood on the ground as well as the little girl, and the room itself in being pitch black beside the light on the gun. I was wondering if the photographer even had his flash on when he took the photo because it doesn't look like he did which is a good idea because it would have ruined the "naturalness" of the situation in the room.

Multimedia Stories...

Multimedia storytelling is so interesting because there are so many ways to do it. Maybe there is a difference in scope, but the USATODAY.com Award of Excellence story “Johnny Holiday: Finally Acting His Age” was very simple compared to some of the other stories. And by simple I don’t mean simple to do, the photos were beautiful and it was a nice story—but there was only one option, to watch the flash video (I’m guessing flash, I have no idea). I think sometimes multimedia stories try too hard to have too many elements and it seems that you could either overwhelm someone and they won’t know where to go, and potentially you’ll lose people—or people will be so enthralled in the story they’ll stay on the site forever. I think it just depends on the story.

Hopping Forward

Looking at a picture of a young girl playing hopscotch might seem like a typical situation. Thats what I love about this picture entitled "Spirit" of Bintu Amara. Bintu, though, is anything but ordinary. Different elements in the picture seem to portray pieces of her experience.
Her crutch shows that she is still leaning on others for help. The landscape shows that she is now in a better place, safe from the harm of her past. The fact that she is playing a "mean game of hopscotch" shows that she is overcoming her injuries physically and is hopping forward to what is to come positively.
This picture really shows her whole story, inside and out. Her spirit is still in tact, though her body may not be.

Role reversal

Yannis Kontos' picture "Polaris", which one first place for a magazine feature picture, is one of the most powerful pictures I have ever seen. It is able to capture a single moment in the very large issue of Sierra Leone's civil war. This picture puts a human face on something that many people may only read about or hear briefly on the news, but do not feel like it really affects them.

I like this picture because it shows a very caring moment, but a moment created by a horrible act. A child is helping his father button his shirt, but only because the father’s hands have been cut off by soldiers of the RUF. The two switch roles in this picture. The son takes care of his father in this way, as the father is no longer able to take care of himself.

Photography... (lame i know)

I loved Alison Yin’s Down at the Barber Shop and the World Understanding multimedia picture of the year photo. The World Understanding photo is calming yet very foreign to me. The Barber Shop photos are entertaining and describe a small town lifestyle that I am unfamiliar to. Anyone who watches that slide show cannot help but smile at some point.  I do not like to heavily analyze photos, but I do believe it is important to understand the photographer’s artistic purpose.

  Part of the reason I joined convergence journalism is because I love shooting photography. My favorite type of photography to shoot is urban photography and nature. I have been compiling a portfolio and a photo book for the last 2 years. Hopefully sometime this year, I will finish and publish my book. 

Photographs of another world

I really liked looking at all the photos and wondering what they were or what story could be behind them before reading the captions. I personally love photography because its a medium which many can create news without deception, confusion, etc. When you write a story, you have to be sure it can be understood from all different points of view, groups, etc. (This is the challenge that keeps me motivated to be a writer). However, with a photo, it's right there, in your face news. You just have to write a caption to put it in a time and place. I took family photos at Sears off and on for about 3 years and there's nothing like capturing a moment. I had to make sure every family had a photo that captured something creatively, even if it took more than the 12 frames I was allowed.

My favorite photographer would have to be Tamas Dezso. He captured so many different perspectives throughout his photo album. It was absolutely astonishing. My favorite photo would have to be the one of the vandalized mannequin. I was thinking, these are journalistic photos, not art....why would they have photoshopped a picture. Then, I read the caption and thought...wow. And that's all I have to say about that.

Pictures of the Year Blog- Lauren Stine

I really love this assignment because I secretly always wanted to be a photo journalist, but was always too worried that I didn't have enough talent. I always really liked taking photos of things that were unusual, meaning that these photos were usually of objects or scenes that most other people wouldn't think to shoot. For this reason I really enjoyed the CPOY Magazine Photographer Of the Year winner. Even though these are journalistic photos, they aren't hard news; they are very imaginative and are taken from creative angles. Photography is a chance for a person to capture a scene from a perspective that a person might not normally see it from. I felt that all of his photos did exactly that- they took scenes that could have been taken in a boring fashion and made them something new and inventive to look at. I really liked the 1st photo in the "District 8" series that Tamas Dezso took because it challenges the viewers perception. I had to read the caption to understand that the man in the foreground wasn't really a man at all, and was instead a mannequin that had been vandalized. I like this photo best because it really engages the viewer and keeps them coming back for a closer look. 

Spot News...Whoa

It was difficult for me to find a photo that didn't capture and hold my attention in the POY gallery. Granted...that's why these are the pictures of the year. But one section of the gallery left me amazed simply because it showed me something most would a) deem unfit for me to see and b) left me appalled for both the subjects and the circumstances. The Spot News sections covered photos on topics only rarely touched on in the news. I was surprised to find them there in living color (or haunting black and white.)

Every single image left me asking questions. That's why I am amazed. One image in particular and the caption that went along with it. The picture was of a child screaming while up against a wall, covered in blood. The title was something like orphaned in an instant and the caption goes on to tell the child watched while her parents were killed as US soldiers fired on their car in Iraq. I want to know why? I want to know who's blood was that? The child's? Or their parents? What happened to the child? And is this really common???

As gruesome as the photo might be (and that's a while different topic of discussion) I think the best quality of any photo published should be the thoughts they provoke. That's what makes that particular group of winners horrifyingly amazing, because I can't tear my mind away from them. 

Multimedia Awards

I was very impressed by the USA Today winner in the Interactive Publication- Major Media category. They blended a photo slideshow together very effectively with sound bites. In fact, I think in that particular case, the still photos were more effective than a video clip would have been. All of their selections were very impressive though. The interactive graphics were functional and looked really nice. I really liked the interactive timeline in the "inauguration" portion of the package. Overall, I thought that the package was a very good blend of information that was functional, visually appealing, and made full use of current software technology.

In the "hurricane katrina" portion of the package, I was very impressed with their interactive map of New Orleans which showed were most of the damage was occurring. They also had a really awesome selection of quality photos, audio clips, and video clips from the event.

Picture of the Year

By Scott Krones

I chose the General Reporting category winner because it struck me as soon as it loaded on my screen. The image is so emphatic and it really drives home a strong message - you can't help but be impacted in some way by the picture. As the casket is being dragged out, you can see all of these people in the plane that are clearly affected - their faces invoke such a serious tone. But it is the caption that helps propel the image into greatness because the embedded quote is so meaningful and true. The passengers had no idea there was a body of a Marine in the cargo and now they will never forget that flight and that particular moment in their lives.

Images (along with captions) that resonate easily with their viewers are the pictures that are truly special - we can easily become emerged in the scene of the photo and we know that we would share the same tone if on board that plane. This particular image makes us realize the serious nature of the war and how brave these men and women are for sacrificing their lives to further protect the U.S. A good image is one that can transform an emotionally charged scene into a single moment of evidence without losing that emotion, which is what makes the General Reporting winner so successful.

Upstate girls

After looking through many pictures of the year winners submissions, I chose to focus on the Community Awareness Award winner Brenda Ann Kenneally's gallery entitled, "Upstate Girls." These 40 pictures were extremely moving and the captions provided insight into the lives of the women being photographed. When taking a picture, the photographer must pay special attention to composition, contrast, content and context. The way these pictures were shot in black in white with strong contrast plays up the drama and the intensity of the situation being photographed. The story of these girls lives could be broken up and presented as 40 pictures of each individual girl. The way Kenneally combined so many different girls throughout the 40-picture gallery kept the flow exciting but sometimes confusing. Jumping from subject to subject was hard to follow and trying to cram 10 different girls lives into a series of 40 pictures was often hard to see the beginning, middle and end.

Connecting with Photos

I really liked a lot of these photos because they did an exceptional job showing these people in their everyday lives. Pictures truly are worth a thousand words and people viewing these photos will remember them long after the details of the article vacates their mind.

My favorite picture was of the nuns after they found out a new pope had been chosen. Sure it made me smile, but I also, for whatever reason, felt like I was in the room with them.

I also liked the picture of the little boy at the dinner party. I think all of us can remember how he feels from perhaps a decade ago or so. I used to be that little boy, but I'm not quite ready to be one of the guests at the party either.

I was also touched by the pictures of the children in Nigeria and other countries. I try to think about pictures like those when I want to complain about the small, unimportant problems that crop up in my life every now and then. Photojournalists allow me to realize my life isn't so bad after all.

Connecting With Photos

I feel it is most important for a picture to not only capture the emotions that are felt, but to also tell a story through the image. I think Barbara Davidson's photos accomplish both of these things.

Through her Wave of Destruction series, Davidson shows the pain and suffering these people went through after their homes were destroyed. When I look at these pictures, I feel like I can connect on some level with the pain these people feel.

While I have never lost a home, I have lost other things. It is the feeling of hopelessness that Davidson brings out in these people that allows so many to connect with them.

I believe these elements help to make these photos stronger.

Eh... If it happens we will be there.

After reading both articles I am torn to between both arguments. I do not know enough about how media companies run to decide if convergence journalism is the way of the future or not. Some of the journalists I have spoken with are skeptical about the future of convergence journalism. 

Convergence journalists will have emphasis areas like all other journalists, except they will be more rounded in other fields of media. From that perspective, we can only help the state of media.

What scares me is the idea that convergence journalism will result in a quality for profit exchange. Kebbel’s fear that some companies will eliminate jobs because they expect one journalist to be capable of 3 journalists’ jobs will happen. Even in the rare instance that one journalist could be capable of doing three journalists jobs well, that person would only have the perspective of a single journalist. There forth, one journalist can never adequately replace three journalists. Different perspectives are key in producing great media in a story-by-story basis, and in the long run.

I agree with Kebbel statement, “While some multimedia journalists can handle a variety of tasks efficiently and professionally, most will only deliver mediocre journalism”.  This statement is probably true today, but maybe in 10 years every journalist will be expected to know how to use multiple medias. As Stevens argued, companies may grok at hiring a reporter who can’t slide across media in 10 years. I’m glad to know that if that day does happen, I will have the skills to pay the bills.

Overall I agree with Mendenhall statement, "I think multimedia journalists are here to stay. It has evolved to the point where one person can pretty much do it all. We're just waiting for the technology to do it better”.

 by Jordan Stockdale

 

Hey, maybe the digital age could use a few Martha Stewarts.

The main criticism against "backpack" journalism is that converged journalists spend too much time learning everything, and never learn to do anything well. Also, Martha Stone argued that backpack journalists would eliminate jobs.

While I agree with Mrs. Stone when she says that backpack journalists should be the exception, not the rule, I disagree when she says that they are a jack of all trades, master of none.

I for one, would really like to be a backpack journalist, mainly because I'm interested in many different media, and not because I'm trying to be a "Martha Stewart of the digital journalism age". I completely nerd out about web design and video editing, but that's just me. I think that it's possible to not only know how to work with multiple media, but to know how to work with them well. Although, I completely understand it when people have one particular media that they want to specialize in.

I also believe that convergence journalism will not eliminate jobs. Even though a convergence journalist can do it all--they could always use a little help. I think that there will always be a place for people who just want to write all the time, or take photos, or edit video. 

Take it, or be left behind....

In reading the two articles assigned, I have re-affirmed a few of my pre-existing conceptions and gathered a few new opinions. On a positive note, "backpack journalism" or our adored Convergence Journalism sequence here at Mizzou, is essential in the future of journalism. It's very important to know some of everything, to be able to help a colleague perfect his/her story and to be secure in knowing your job is everyones job and that very few can do what you do. There's great pride in knowing that. 

On a less positive (but still positive) note, from reading the two articles, my opinion is that our jobs as convergence journalists is not to replace people. I feel as though that is the main concern of those against us. Convergence is an area media outlets should be hiring a multitude for, and training their pre-existing staff to do. The best journalism will always come from teams of journalists. I cannot argue that a convergence journalist will do it all and media outlets need to staff five of them to replace their old staff. I will argue that a person with the knowledge, skill, and energy it takes to be a convergence journalist, will make journalism more accessible, creative, and interesting. I will argue that the capability to tell a story from multiple angles, or to know exactly which one will be at the forefront, is one of the most valuable tools of multimedia technology. 

My bottom line is that the world is changing. The world will always be changing, and we are in a field that documents that change. Fortunately, the means we go about documenting the changes will not stay the same. Media outlets need to employ a team of convergence journalists, each person on that team focused on a specific form of media, but capable to do it all. That team needs to be at the forefront of every big story, and constantly working on an in-depth piece that takes place over time. That team is the future of journalism, take it or be left behind.

Rochelle Evans

Can't wait to get a cool vest with lots of pockets...

From: Mindy

Luckily I'm not planning on being a backpack journalist (it sounds painful), but instead a long-format television video producer of feature stories, capable of transforming those into multimedia stories on the web (so wait, maybe I am going to need that backpack). Stone states, “the do-it-all journalists should be the exception, not the rule,” and I would agree. I don’t believe a multi-media journalist is going to replace everyone in the newsroom (at least not yet, although I think any journalist would be better off knowing as much as possible about other mediums). And while learning to be a broadcast journalist, print journalist, photojournalist, and web journalist might take more time, just like any other profession, there are probably going to be some areas that come with more ease and others that take more work.

It doesn’t have to be a “mush of mediocrity” with proper training and effort. Stone said, “Specialization as the prevailing employment strategy has stood the test of time with other forms of journalism,” but I think she’s wrong because we are specializing in something—multimedia storytelling. Though a successful multimedia story probably isn’t possible with a one-man-band operation during breaking news unless you had multiple people at the scene performing different tasks-- sometimes it happens so fast.

I believe multimedia storytelling is here to stay, whether I'm wearing a backpack or not.

Backpack Journalism

From Scott Krones

Like many others, I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to do within Journalism. But once I read up on Convergence, it intrigued me immediately and I knew right then that this is what I wanted to do. The prospect of learning different media and various skills is very exciting to me and I just want to take in as much as I can. In regards to Backpack Journalism, I feel like there doesn't have to be a predetermined boundary for someone's proficiency -- just because someone wants to learn a number of different skills doesn't mean that they have to be mediocre in all of them. A true journalist will not accept anything but perfection, and I don't see why it would be any different for backpack journalists. It seems as if some people are just unwilling to accept change. These newer means of producing news are slowly but surely taking over, and it's cool that we are going to play a part in the movement.

The whole reason I came to Mizzou from out of state was for the Convergence Journalism program. Becoming a "jack of all trades" is something I aspire to accomplish. I tend to lean more toward Steven's point of view that knowing how to preform any assignment asked of you and having background training in many areas make you an essential employee in the journalism industry. In the long run, I hope I am the go-to-girl for breaking news and and questions that may arise about any computer software.
Even though both of these articles were supposed to present opposing views, I felt that they were both stating that it is useful to be trained in all areas of multimedia and not just focus on one.

Backpack Journalism

I believe that backpack journalism is a respectable profession. I personally feel that a person can be very talented at a variety of types of journalism, if they are given the right tools and the right training. A convergence journalist may not be as skilled at each type of journalism, but they are much more capable of keeping up with the current trend of journalism moving online. A backpack journalist can deal with situations where they are forced to go to an event and produce a multimedia package that can reach all different types of audiences. This is valuable because it allows the news outlet to produce their pieces fairly quick, and to reach a large number of people. I don't think that the work has to suffer because it should still be edited by an editor who can make each aspect of the package up to the same par as a piece done by a team of journalists. 

  I personally will probably never be a professional convergence journalist because I am interested in being a magazine designer, but I believe that having a broad journalism skill set is going to make me more marketable to future employers, and will empower me to tackle any type of journalism job I have in the future. 

Backpack or tool belt?

By: David Goldstein

“Backpack journalism” is a term that comes with many negative connotations.  The very wording suggests an amateur journalist, producing amateur quality news stories.  Critics see the backpack as a bag of mediocre tricks that a journalist may draw from, but can never really use to truly impress the audience.  In my opinion, they are wrong.

 I would like to think of it as more of a tool belt than a backpack.  The multimedia journalist is a highly trained professional who has many tools at his or her disposal.  Just like a handyman, able to fix any problem, a multimedia journalist is able to tell a story through any medium, each one building upon the other in order to give the audience the most complete and in depth story possible.  With video, audio, text, and still photos at their disposal, multimedia journalists are not limited to one form of storytelling, just as people do not limit their news intake to just one medium. 

A reporter who has been following a story from the beginning will have a more in depth knowledge of the subject than a team of reporters all from different mediums.  Working with so many people, journalists are bound to uncover the same surface information over and over unless there is good communication between them.  If one person is able to cover the same story using different mediums, he or she is likely to gather different information that provides a broader view of the issue.  A journalist's skills must change and expand along with the way people's news intake is expanding, and multimedia journalists are ahead of the curve.  

Code Name Control Freak

I will warn you now...I'm wordy :-) 

When I was looking into choosing where I wanted to go to school, I was absolutely convinced that I wanted to study Broadcast Journalism at Mizzou. And then I had my meeting with Ron Gilette who pitched the Convergence Sequence to my naive mind. At the time, I didn't realize that this was a trap that would inevitably suck my soul from my body and into my computer which has now become some crude extension of my own mind. But I'm glad for it because Convergence has more to offer me than any other sequence, and that's everything. I tend to be a control freak to the core. I'm not easy to work with in groups as a warning, it pretty much has to be right and on schedule otherwise I tend to flip my lid. I have a mind that is constantly at work and am happiest when I'm learning to do something, even when I am frustrated. And to be perfectly honest, that's why Convergence appealed to me. It's cornering the market...cool. It's where journalism is heading...neat. You get to learn to do it all...I'M IN!!! 

As to Stone's argument that Convergence makes a jack of all trades, and a master of none. I disagree. I am a master of a trade all of my own, convergence. It's not mediocrity, it's excellence in a new all-encompassing form. I can learn to specialize in one thing, but in the end, I'm not sticking to strictly TV or print journalism. Convergence is an all new ball game the in my opinion the news media as a whole just doesn't quite know how to play yet. But, that's where Mizzou comes in! Just because I've spread my abilities over all of the platforms doesn't mean that I am a showcase of mediocrity. It just means I want to be able to do more. 

One other interesting point that I want to note. In class today it was briefly mentioned that it is easier to do a convergence project on a long-term story. And that the convergence field doesn't lend well to breaking news. Stone brought up the same point, and to that I ask why? I understand not all stories can be done in a hit-and-run style, and it is easier to build something on such a large scale over a longer period of time. But send me to the scene of a house fire with a broadcast truck, camera, tripod, tape recorder, and my trusty computer and watch me go. (That song "Anything you can do, I can do better" is currently on repeat in my head)

*I apologize. My posts are long, and probably pretty scattered idea-wise. My thoughts tend to be collisions of ideas in my brain, and like a highway wreck at rush hour, even I can't be sure when or where the next car is going to go.*

Backpack Journalism

I think I would like to become a Backpack Journalist. While I do think that sometimes it is beneficial to specialize in one thing, I do feel it is best to be the best you think you can be in all aspects of your career and life. 

My dad works on the advertising side of the newspaper business. He is constantly learning new tools and types of technology to advance his craft. Many of his co-workers seek him out when they have a problem or even to help them learn these new things. 

I would love to be this person for my company one day. I feel like Backpack Journalism would allow me to learn these types of skills. Overtime I hope these skills allow me to be the best at my job and journalism in general. 

I need a bigger backpack

I am obviously excited to be starting the Convergence sequence, mainly because I look forward to learning how to do various skills in journalism across different mediums.

With that being said, I can see where Martha Stone would be worried about journalists becoming a jack of all trades, but a master of none. I feel it is best to learn how to work exceptionally across one medium and have tools on top of this to make one more appealing to employers.

I cannot decide if I agree with Brandon about being good at five things or great at one. It is great to be proficient and respectable working with various mediums. But I think you better be great at one - and then build on it.

I feel that backpack journalism, if utilized properly, is the future of our craft. Why is it such a bad thing for a journalist to be able to branch out of what they are comfortable with, be it radio, TV, print, and do their job by covering a story in more than one way, and therefore giving their company a leg up on the competing news outlets. I was uncertain of what sequence I wanted to apply to in the J-School but then I heard about Convergence and what it had to offer. I feel that majoring in Convergence Journalism will open up so many more doors for me when it comes to jobs straight out of college and giving me a huge advantage over those that I am competing against because I have more to offer to a company than just being really good at one thing.

It isn't like Convergence gives you only a little bit of information about TV, radio, web, print, etc. but gives you exactly what you need and allows you to still make an emphasis in one as well. I still don't know what I want to do with my degree but a Convergence degree will not only be attractive to more news outlets but can open up jobs at companies that don't have anything to do with journalism.

Personally, I'd much rather be good at 5 things than great at 1 because odds are there are thousands of others that are just as great at that 1.