Journalism 2.0 and beyond.

By now, everyone pretty much agrees that the internet has brought about huge advantages to reporters and audience alike. From the beginning it has been obvious that the new technology would somehow redefine journalism. But just what role this new tool should have, has been the issue of much debate. The visionaries, who saw the benefits of multimedia reporting early on, have had to fight a tough battle in many newsrooms, within the last decade. Transforming tradition bound newspapers to multimedia websites has meant that reporters have had to be taught to use new technologies...Ones that didn't exist when they first chose to become journalists. Changing the tools of the trade and the qualifications required naturally has caused some anxiety and resistance.

Fortunately this resistance has diminished as it has become evident that the internet is not just a fad. Many senior reporters have been reschooled by now and have become strong advocates for multimedia reporting. Furthermore, many young reporters have grown up with the internet and view it is a natural way of communicating with an audience.

In the words of Phil Lewis, Editor & Vice President of Editorial at Naples Daily News, multimedia reporting was "way down the assembly line" just a few years ago. He has been a key figure in changing this mentality at the local paper. He sees the possibilities of multimedia reporting as being immense for any newspaper. Interestingly he emphasizes the importance of using the web to stream live video to audiences. Cable TV stations need a license to broadcast news and they often do not have very many reporters. This offers a great advantage to papers, even small ones like Naples Daily News. They have a large variety of reporters working for them, full time and free-lance. And transmitting via the web saves them having to obtain an expensive broadcast license. Of course the opportunity of streaming via the web is not exclusive to papers. But since many papers have a large staff they have the manpower and expertise to truly challenge TV stations.

Just a few years back, a newspaper journalist had a narrowly defined job description. While it is still important to have expertise in one or several areas of news reporting, reporters are now expected to have a diversified range of skills. And with digital technology available to reporters it is becoming easier to obtain the necessary skills. While news will remain news production of news will continue to change with new technologies. Therefore it is essential to keep up to date with technologies and embrace new ideas and ways of conveying information.