Backpack journalism

Even if people have their hang-ups about backpack journalism, there is still the rare and talented bunch that will prove it can be done, and they will be the ones to get good jobs. Since journalism is such a competitve field, I think it's important to embrace the idea of becoming a multimedia journalist to keep up with the rest of the herd. I just look at it this way: you might as well sharpen up your technical skills rather than resisting the inevitable.
Though I don't really care for the idea of seeing one person applying their mediocre skills to various story telling devices, not every story requires fancy editing techniques and flash animation to tell a compelling story. I think it's also really important to have a good sense of what makes a good news story such as knowing which medium/media is the most appropriate for the story and the most appropriate use of the medium/media for the story.
I liked the reporter-driven story model Jane Stevens' discusses in her blog. To me, it makes the most sense because it allows the journalist to work with the beat and medium they specialize in while also integrating other forms of media to the story when appropriate. This way, the reporter can still deliver news that is in-depth but also have the smaller, shorter packages. People have so much more control over what information and how much of the information they're going to digest, it makes sense to provide more options.