Backpack Journalism: Our Bright Future

by Bu Fan

Sorry I know that I'm late for this topic. Because I didn't know we should write blog about the reading after our first class.

Ok, let's come to the world of backpack journalism. After reading these articles, it seems that the backpack journalism will be our bright future. As multimedia-savvy reporters in the future, we can rush into the spot where breaking news is happening with lightweight digital equipment, and leave those conventional reporters carrying a steadicam far behind. It sounds pretty cool, doesn't it?

With a laptop, a digital camera, a cell phone, and perhaps a GPS, backpack journalists can independently produce multimedia outlets through a serial of softwares, such as Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Premiere, and so forth. They can write news stories, shoot video, edit video clips, do radio on the side-all of those work. They will be the pioneers of journalism in the twenty-first century.

However, my question is-how can they(probably "we" in the future) meet the requirement of market-oriented media? As everyone knows, different media match the taste of different audiences. For example, political interested citizens will prefer newspaper of traditional or advocacy journalism, like the New York Times, Washington Post, Nation, etc., while some other consumers may be fond of news in a "infortainment" style, such as The Oprah Winfrey Show. But how can a single journalist report news from many different angles and different styles to cater different audiences' taste?

I am looking forward to answers from you, and I will keep pondering on it. :)