Your/Our Future

When I was in the seventh grade, I took a basic computer class required of every student. It was boring for the most part: word processing, spreadsheets, how to un-jam the printer, things of that nature. However, one section covered web design and the Internet. Keep in mind that this was 1997 and web pages were very, VERY basic. But I was hooked.

Taking Multimedia Journalism this semester has just cemented my desire to focus on "new" journalism for my career. My favorite project thus far was making the video for YouTube. The subjects we interviewed seemed genuinely interested in what we were doing and the feedback we received was nothing but positive.

The idea of being a journalist with these new skills is freakin' sweet. Not only can we write, but we can shoot video, take photos, and make awesome Flash packages. One can now do the work of many (which is where the fear of less job opportunities comes from). It's like we're Super Journalists. But at the same time, you have to wonder if these new abilities will somehow cheapen our mission: to bring information to the masses. If all new journalists are going to focus on new media, will the inverted pyramid disappear? Are we just exacerbating our flashy culture? And with blogs, is every citizen with a computer and a rant going to be given the same privileges of old-school journalists? All questions that will be answered in time.

Unfortunately, there is not enough time in just one (or two) semesters to learn everything we need to know about the convergence between print journalism and new media. Hopefully, Texas State will get the hint that their students are interested in the subject and will provide more classes in the future. Cindy has done the best she can (no brown nosing here- she has really worked wonders) to educate us about this new field, but there's only so much that can be taught in 16 weeks.

The coolest thing about what we're doing now is that the news is no longer a one-way street; it's a dialog between journalists, citizens, and subjects. There are more voices to listen to, and that doesn't mean there are less opportunities, just more stories. And that's what we're here for; to help tell those stories in new ways.

ONA Journalism Awards, 2007

In the online journalism world, we know who the big dogs are: Washingtonpost.com, Annenburg School, Wired.com, etc... and so it wasn't surprising to see them take home honors from the recent Online News Association Journalism Awards.






However, to me, the more interesting award winners are the smaller dogs. The toy poodles of the online world, if you will. One in particular is Border Beat, US Border news and insight done by the students at University of Arizona. From slideshows about the barrios in Tuscon to the best taquerias around town, the site is informative and interesting. It reminds me of the Bobcat Living site that we work on.

My second favorite on the list of awards is FloridaToday.com's beat space coverage. They have live video feeds from the space shuttle and links to NASA TV. It's obvious by the banner ads on the site that FloridaToday relies heavily on its advertisers for revenue, yet they do a stellar job (pun intended) on both covering the subject matter and receiving comments from readers.

Not just a blog post

Not Just a Number, presented by the Bay Area News Group and The Oakland Tribune, is an interesting and unique way to handle the alarming trend of murder in the Oakland, Calif. area. The interactive map, featuring 22 stories, was very well done. Each story is accompanied by a photo, and when the photo is clicked, a person tells a new story. The listen, watch and interact features give this multimedia project a feeling of freshness, as I have never seen the three classified and linked at the bottom of each scene before. By adding that last level of interactivity and showing what concerned residents can do to help curb the violence, the Bay Area News Group and The Oakland Tribune succeeded in telling the story in a much more effective way than solely print could.

Everest, Beyond The Limit is another well done Web site. The clean interface and smooth interactions are just a couple of the immediately recognizable reasons this piece won an award. Although the site itself is pretty taxing on any computer system, I believe most computers built within the last five years or so should be more than enough to run the piece efficiently. The superb use of links and video also put this Web site over the edge. The inclusion of Greg Childs' blog shows the desire to be more than just a promotional piece for a Discovery Channel TV show, but instead, a journalistic project.

Our Tahoe, one of the student winners, is pretty impressive. The simplistic and straightforward layout serves the content of the site best. I also enjoyed the nonlinear storytelling by the six subjects. The link at the lower bottom of this page gives viewers a chance to hear each subject's views on the corresponding subject. This is a very cool idea. Finally, the people, places and games sections are all implemented successfully. The people scene's two main sections are very interesting. I especially enjoyed the I Live Here piece.

It was exciting for me to see all of the award winners try out so many new and different ways to carry out multimedia projects. I feel like I am getting to the point where I could be involved in one or more of these styles of pieces.

Viewing the online journalism award winner

“OnBeing” is a seemingly simple topic approached in a grand sort of way. Its simplicity, though, is what makes the Washington Post multimedia poignant storytelling through multimedia. The videos are well-done and a great way of exploring what makes people. It reminds me of NPR’s StoryCorps, which the public radio organization describes as a way of telling America’s oral history. Both are brilliant and powerful because of their simplicity.

As for the winning piece, I’ve tried to load “Not Just a Number” several times now, and it has not worked. I'm curious to see it, but my computer is too slow.

The hip-hop piece was just plain cool. Even the way the multimedia loaded on the screen incorporated hip-hop elements. I love the idea of all of this. I love that this incorporates everything from graffiti to breakdancing. The turntable is a clever way to display different topics. The Web page has a definite hip-hop style. There’s also a The overall piece sheds light on the evolution of hip-hop and views the subject with more depth than it’s usually given at face value.

The student pieces are well-done and a reminder that multimedia is something not limited to the experts with expensive equipment and seemingly unlimited time. It’s obvious that the work isn’t the same quality as something produced by ABC News or the Washington Post, but it is commendable multimedia journalism. I think people need to keep in mind the resources, time and experience that student journalists have when evaluating their work.

What I like about the Online Journalism Awards is that has separate contests for large and small publications. Sure, the Washington Post, New York Times and other high-circulation newspapers are in the forefront of multimedia journalism, but small newspapers are tackling this as well. Small newspapers often less funds, time and people to work with, and their efforts should not go unrecognized. These are my highlights from the awards.