Mastery versus ability

When I decided to enter into the convergence sequence, the main thing in my mind was that I wanted to be adept at all forms of journalism. I love photography. Audio journalism immerses listeners in the story with the voices of the subjects and the sounds of the story's setting. Video journalism enables people to actually see what's going on. And print journalism gives in-depth information necessary to be informed on a subject.

Beyond all this, the integration of these various media has the potential to add even more richness to stories by combining all these media, giving the best of each medium.

Yet I most emphatically don't want to be a simple "jack of all trades, master of none." By devoting oneself to one subject, one can work through the nuances of a craft by going through a variety of situations and observing the results of ones work, over time.

Barring innate ability in a variety of media, the only way to achieve the best results with anything is to go through this time. Without this time, the highest quality can't be achieved.

Ability in one form of journalism doesn't translate to ability in others. The most striking example I can provide for this is by comparing print to photojournalism. Photojournalism requires a heightened aesthetic sense, the ability to capture the feeling of a situation, while print requires verbal skills. These two things mostly use totally separate sides of the brain. Clearly, someone who's visually oriented may not have the skills to compose good written stories at all.

By expecting one person to handle both visual and verbal tasks and produce a compelling product, you're expecting someone to be both adept with words and with visuals. What are the chances that someone who can tell the story that gets to the heart of the matter will also be able to capture the image that people will remember years down the line? Not likely.

By having the same person produce a variety of media, backpack journalism gets in the way of people giving the time it takes to produce mastery in something they're predisposed to.

So, with all this anti-backpack journalist attitude, I'm sure you're asking, what do you think the point of convergence journalism, anyways?

One, to compile the work of the finest people in each media and make it into a cohesive package, giving the benefits of inter-media crossfertilization.

Two, to report those stories where you really do need to take your all-in-one multimedia backpack and create a multimedia story on the fly, whether it be in an inaccessible region or at the scene of a breaking story. Because sometimes backpack journalism is essential, and the ability to use all media essential, not just economically expedient.