"Backpack Journalism is here to Stay"

As a backpack journalist, I always make sure I am equipped with the essentials: marantz, hammer head mic, mini disc recorder, regular mic, Olympus D-545 Zoom digital camera, notebook, a pen, extra AA batteries, a cell phone, and sometimes a handheld video camera. Whenever I am “on the job” I feel like a new wave of journalist. When I look at myself with all this equipment, I resemble the moment when multi-talented Bob Dylan surprised and shocked the world when he went electric. In the back of my head, I can hear a vocal “Judas!" screaming out in the distance. I love the direction journalism is going. Combining various forms of media (i.e. TV, radio, photography, newsprint, and the Internet) to tell a story is simply mind-boggling.

Dylan went electric, and so did I.

In her article, Jane Stevens discusses how two of multimedia’s most important characteristics are context and continuity. A common belief is that journalism should be cut and dry: a magazine journalist should just write text; a radio journalist should just work with audio; a TV journalist should only focus on pictures and sound. These classifications made sense at one point, but with the influence of the InterWeb, journalists are thinking outside of the box. By exploring multiple formats, journalists are discovering their ability to go even deeper with a story. The Internet is playing a powerful role in this new age of storytelling. Instead of getting the “whole” story in the paper or on the airwaves, audience members are getting part of it. If people choose to do so, they can go online and get even more information from bonus audio, video, or a flash presentation. The general public has greater control over their exposure to information provided by the media. Stevens predicts over the next 20 years, it is likely that the content provided by newspapers and the television news shows are likely to be transmitted primarily over the Internet.

Because convergence places a lot of emphasis on the multifaceted reporter, there is less of a need to send a ton of people with different roles to cover one story. Now, non-journalists are taking it upon themselves to tell the story. As Stevens avers, backpack journalists need proper training before their work can go on the air, but it has become clear that anyone can potentially tell a story with limited resources and little to no training. For the average Joe or Joanne, gathering a home video camera is all that is needed to tell a story. An average person can step into the footsteps of journalist, and provide an accurate account of what is “newsworthy.” Often a news report will miss the big picture, but including the members of the community in the storytelling process helps contextualize a story.

A 4802 Web Extra...The Road to 2014: