With the ever-changing climate of news media, it has become necessary for the journalism curriculum to be revised. In order to service the journalists of tomorrow, schools are beginning to understand that some of yesterday’s lessons just don’t cut it. How are the reporters of new and old different from each other? How are they the same? These are some of the questions being asked by mass communication professionals.
For the past five months I have been learning about the need for a “multimedia journalist,” a journalist who is able to produce news in a variety of forms. This approach is supposed to help bridge the gap between traditional news reporting methods and the opportunities afforded by the internet. Today’s journalists are definitely expected to be better-rounded in their skill set and do more than just write their news story.
In a recent New York Times article written by Brian Stelter, how journalism schools are responding to the multimedia approach was discussed. One contributor, Tom Fiedler, a dean of the College of Communication at Boston University argues that it is still important to teach the basics of journalism no matter how a story will be packaged for the public. He says, “We want to teach our students to make a great soup. What they serve it in matters little.” In a mad dash to keep up with the times and get news out to an audience that wants it at their fingertips, today’s journalists have the task of balancing quality with quantity.
It will be interesting to see how the new generations of journalists tackle the issues faced now in reporting the news. I’m sure it will take a fresh eye to look at the problems from different angles in order to come up with the best solutions. No one is denying that previous methods are getting outdated. The question now is what new methods will yield the best results and make for the tastiest soup.
Check out Stelter’s article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/education/edlife/journ-t.html?scp=27&sq=journalism&st=cse
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