Blog Assignment 10: Another Look at the Future of Journalism

When I first enrolled in Steve Fox's Introduction to Multimedia Journalism course this semester, I was assigned to write about what I thought the future of journalism would be. Although my perspective has not changed much, I did not think that the multimedia work I completed in this course would be so significant to my future in journalism. I worked on several projects about on-campus issues at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and I plan on using these projects to further my studies of multimedia journalism. Throughout this course, I learned that some of the most impressive stories are those that integrate multimedia aspects. While I still think that the future of journalism is in multimedia, I did not expect to benefit so much from the skills I learned in this course.

In the beginning of the semester, I thought the future of journalism would predominately consist of online content, but print papers would always exist. After taking this course, I realize how important it is to learn about online journalism ethics and incorporating multimedia into a piece. When multimedia is integrated into an article, the reader can see what words project. Instead of trying to paint an image with words, the reporter can get the story across with the advantage of showing the story in a multimedia piece. Video captures what words cannot, and for this reason, I see the future of journalism becoming even more integrated and embedded in the Internet. I remember specifically reading Jim Stovall's article titled "The demise of newspapers means better journalism" and having a light-bulp go off in my head. I realized that while the future of journalism is threatened in some ways because of the Internet, the profession also benefits greatly from all of the advantages of going online.

One of the major lessons that this class taught me was the significance and impact that online journalism can and will have in the future. While I continue to see the future of journalism in online content, there are dangers to the profession of journalism on an online platform. At the end of the semester, this point was really driven home when I was assigned to go on a Twitter assignment to watch Dr. Pierre Rouzier, a UMass Sports Med Doctor and UHS Physician, who was at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Dr. Rouzier spoke about the role of the internet, specifically social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, when the news broke. While "status updates" and "tweets" where spreading rumors and creating a lot of speculation, Dr. Rouzier mentioned how these sites also acted as an aid, as people where able to connect with family or loved ones after the incident occurred. So, while I understood from the beginning of the semester that the Internet posed a great danger to the world of journalism, I now see the advantages that the Internet creates for the profession.

I think my perspective has stayed the same but become stronger. I truly believe that the Internet is not causing journalism to "die," as many people believe. Instead, I think the Internet is making journalism more prominant in today's society than ever before. Readers can go online and find information in a matter of minutes, and I believe that incorporating multimedia into these pieces only enhances and justifies this information.