The switch from print news to online reporting is nothing to fear, according to one journalist from the Athens Banner-Herald.
Adam Thompson, 26, a regional reporter from Banner-Herald, feels that online reporting opens many opportunities to journalists. “It increases the toolbox that you have and increases what you can give the public,” said Thompson to University of Georgia journalism students on Monday.
Online news reporting enables the reporter to link to related pages and include audio and video clips to enhance the story. According to Thompson, papers such as the Banner-Herald have invested heavily in equipment for online reporting, purchasing digital cameras and audio recorders to capture media to include in their website’s articles .
“It’s really romantic to say [that] I like to get ink on my fingers,” said Thompson, who still enjoys the physical newspaper. But despite the romanticism, even long-time reporters of the Banner-Herald are embracing and enjoying the online switch, he said.
“It’s an extension of what they already do,” he said.
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I think it's very interesting how much media is switching to an online format. People spend so much time online, it is a smart move. And I think there will always be jobs for journalists, but I think it's logical to assume that many jobs will be cut. The Internet simplifies production needs so much that it does not take many people to run a Web site. I must agree with Adam, however, I do love turning the pages of a good book or flipping through a newspaper. I will truly regret the day that all of those are online.
ReplyDeleteZak, i found this blog really interesting and I love the spin that you took on this story. So many people have focused on how bad it is that print media is seemingly coming to an end, but you have shown us a new side to this story. It's good to know that not all reporters are taking the news badly, and that some are embracing the changes and running with them.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I have found the shift from hard copy to onlince sources to be a difficult. I think I'm pretty old school because I'd rather have a copy of the paper to hold with me so I can just browse over it in between classes. I hate the the AJC no longer comes to campus. I'm not one of those people who will look up the news articles since I don't have access to a hard copy.
Another aspect of online papers that I don't like is that it's too personalized. You can search the topics that you want to read and be done with it, but I like to have everything in view so I can see topics that I never would have read if I were just searching the paper.
Zak- good post! I agree with Alicea that it was an interesting and more idealized way of looking at the switch to online from newspaper.
ReplyDeleteA big part of me really likes to pick up a paper and flip through it-- but the convenience of going online and skimming through headlines and getting it all so quickly... i don't know which one i prefer!
for those grady people who are interested in newspaper journalism i hope the papers stick around in their natural form- for the sake of their jobs! who knows what will happen-- the shift will be interesting!
That's interesting that a print reporter doesn't see how the internet could harm her career. This is a refreshing perspective after hearing so many complaints about how print journalism is a dying medium and with the internet reporting is going down the toilet.
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