Assignments

ASSIGNMENT TWO —

These print publications know what they’re doing when it comes to multimedia.

The Boston Globe
I have always been a fan of boston.com’s The Big Picture. The Big Picture hosts extensive photo essays with amazing pictures. Updated frequently, The Boston Globe coins this page “news stories in photographs.”  The stories they cover are generally national and global, so The Big Picture is a great multimedia source for anyone, even if they aren’t from Boston.

USA Today
USA Today has always done an amazing job when it comes to visuals and multimedia. I’m drawn to their newspaper because of their sense of color, and that same color can be found on their website. You can see right on their homepage that under their top stories is a list of “top picks.” This is a scroll of multimedia stores, including photos, audio, and video. USA Today even incorporates interactive content. Their October TV Calendar is a great example, and can help you keep up-to-date on the Fall television line-up.

The Washington Post
The Washington Post is on top of multimedia technology. This video about a recent mosque burning is just one example of an array of videos hosted on their site that allow you to absorb important news through alternative story telling. Considering I’ve always been one to just look at the pictures, I can definitely appreciate their paper taking the time to create multimedia content for their website.

ASSIGNMENT ONE —

Five traits of a new journalist. Well, considering journalism has changed quite a bit, there’s a lot to talk about.

First, choice, free journalism, being your own editor.

It’s 6:45 in the morning and I am writing this post. If you decide to read it, you will read it. I can wake up a bit too early and write something, publish it myself, and then you can get on my blog and take in the information. This is what I call a new trait. In any time previous to this, I would’ve had to write this on a type writer, hand it to my editor, copy edit, and fight to get this nonsense printed. But here it is, and on my own account and by my own merit, this is being published. My sense of choice has changed. I am my own editor, and while this is great (look, I wrote this, I can say whatever I want, FREE JOURNALISM), this is also not so great because anyone can create a blog and write something, and then anyone can believe whatever they said. Decide what you want about it, but I think this is a good thing — as long as you have enough sense to sort out the good from the bad.

New trait number two. Design.

This is an obvious choice for me, as a designer. Whether or not it is something you think about, design is everywhere. It’s been ingrained in me since I started my education here at Ohio University. Stop signs, lovely classroom buildings, the way your textbook looks — someone had to design all of it. Generally design is left up to educated professionals, but in this new journalism world, anyone can design anything. While this is somewhat bad for me (oh no, anyone can do my job, I am going to college for nothing), it’s great for the new world of journalism. One can create a blog, make it look beautiful, and therefore draw more people to it. Design is accessible. Here on wordpress.com, there are over 100 free templates to choose from. With a simple credit line at the bottom, your blog can have a new look. When it comes down to it, I am a designer over a journalist, and I’m going to tell you, j-school majors of the world, that this is the best thing the new world of journalism has done for you. No one is going to read your material if it’s ugly — no one, sorry. So make your blog pretty and spread what you want to say to the world.

Three. Multimedia, spreading information visually.

Branching from design, this new journalism world gives us limitless freedom with visuals. When I lay out a page in news design, I am completely limited as to what goes on the page. I must make a critical decision about the photo I chose to use, one that works best to tell the story. In fact, in the School of Visual Communication, I have to take an entire class on this — it’s called picture editing. Here on the web (does anyone call it that anymore?) I can throw whatever image, whatever video, sound clip, song, anything, into this blog post. My choices never end. I have endless space! It’s a dream come true for designers and journalists alike, because as stated previously, visuals help get your point across and make your job as a journalist more successful. Post a blog with a Youtube video and your post is 1000 times more likely (this is clearly not accurate) to be read. This is a visual generation, and multimedia is going to help this generation to receive your message.

Trait number four. Speed!

Thursday night there was a tornado, and I knew about it. I wasn’t watching the news, I didn’t hear a siren until it had already started, but I was on Twitter. I was on Facebook. And as soon as one person knew about the Athens, OH tornado warning and updated their little Facebook status, I knew I had to head for my scary basement. Twitter statuses abound, I was able to click a bitty URL and look at some radar, and possibly save my life. Immediately after the storm, one more of those bitty URLs was posted on my Twitter by God knows who, and I was able to click a link and immediately find out Autotech was destroyed, 200 people were without homes, Athens County Schools were closed Friday. While this tornado story might not strike the word “journalism” into your head, it should. Facebook and Twitter essentially allow everyone to be journalists. I have the freedom (oh hey, trait number one) and tools to write and publish whatever I want — and I can do it in record time! When something urgent is occurring, journalists don’t need to break out their pencils, wait for approval, and hope to see it in the paper the next morning. Journalists can now simply write a blog post and tweet their little hearts out to share what they want the world immediately.

Number five, interconnectedness, information is free.

I just talked about Facebook and Twitter in terms of journalism. How very professional of me, right? But seriously, Facebook and Twitter aren’t just tools for creeping on your ex-boyfriend at three in the morning (something I’ve um, never done). They’re tools for journalists! Say I write this post and I actually want someone to read it. Well, I can post a link to it on my Facebook and my 800 some friends can then click the link and read it — and, oh hey, it’s free, too! My Facebook friends and I are connected, and when I send them my link to my little post about new journalism, and they come to my blog, I have the freedom to connect them to anything else I want. I can create a link and they can click it. I can stick an ad on my blog for my favorite place to buy too many clothes, and they can click it! I can update my blog and warn people that a tornado is actually coming to Athens, and they can go sit in their basement for two hours like I did last night. Athens, Ohio is thankfully not as much of a bubble anymore because of this new world of journalism. As long as I pay my bill to Time Warner Cable every month, I can stay connected and stay current on whatever there is to worry about next. And except for that little bill — it’s all free.

So journalists and journalism has changed, and you’re going to see it right here:

Here on this little piece of the internet you’re going to see me acting as my own editor. If you care to actually read it, you’re going to see whatever I want to post. And you’re hopefully going to like it.

It’s all going to look real pretty. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Design is a wonderful, wonderful thing, and why wouldn’t I take advantage of the 100s of free WordPress themes? You’re going to soak in the information, and none of it will hurt your eyes.

That information is going to have some serious visuals. Since I know you don’t like to read large blocks of text (sorry about this one), you’re going to get some photos and maybe a video here and there to fool you into thinking you’re not reading so much.

It’s all going to come at you fast. Apparently I’ve been working on this for an hour, but in that hour I’ve been able to write and produce this for you to read as soon as I click update. When I want to tell you something, you’re going to be able to hear it.

And you’re going to know it’s out there for you to hear. I’ll post it to my Facebook, my Twitter, I’ll shout it loudly. Sorry everyone, but you’re connected to me, and therefore you’re going to know if I want to tell you something. So stay tooned to your Twitter feeds!