Backpack Journalism

Lindsey Foat

Reading Martha Stone’s counterpoint to the Backpack Journalist, I started to question my own aspirations as a convergence major. On one hand, I don’t like thinking of multimedia reporting as a means to reduce the number of staff on an assignment or as a result of the profit-driven, public ownership that is killing many newspapers.
Instead, I like to think of convergence journalism, as a new approach that will allow us to become better storytellers, who meet and compete for citizens needs amidst other distractions. Realistically, newsrooms can’t always send multiple staff on one assignment. Mendenhall’s trip to Afghanistan is an ideal example. Not only is a small camera more discreet, but convincing and bribing warlords to pass through certain areas is obviously a lot easier when there’s only one person.
I certainly hope that I will master multiple types of media and not produce mediocre work. After all, of any generation thus far ours is certainly adept at multitasking and adopting new technologies.