Digital Age + News = ???

With the digital age finally upon us, journalists have to move with the speed of digital. Multimedia journalists have an edge on print and broadcast journalists; because the multimedia journalist has more experience with newer technology and know how use it effectively. With being mainly online, multimedia journalists have numerous opportunities to brand themselves online. To be honest, for broadcast and print journalists, I would recommend them keeping a blog and update it regularly and essentially creating a fan base for followers to keep track of their coverage. It’s enterprising and leads to entrepreneurship in the media. Finding new ways to engage with the public with social media creates a personal experience with the audience who enjoy your work.

For journalists of any kind, this is the time to capitalize on new venture in storytelling, the online experience, and eventually seeing profits from their work.

The world of multimedia journalism is a growing field and those that work in journalism with the old mindset of traditional journalism will not succeed in the digital age unless they can incorporate the traditional rules of journalism with the new rules of multimedia journalism. 

The Multimedia Experience

If you are a journalist that want to be in multimedia, it is best to understand web platforms and content management systems. CMS is based on a collection of procedures that help manage collaborative workflow. Journalists benefit from this system because it allows a group of people within the organization to contribute and share content, from video files and written pieces, to photos and graphics.

In the overall multimedia project you have to consider the design of the project such as for the desktop and for your mobile device. On the desktop, multimedia journalists can combine all forms of media–text, video, audio, still images, and graphics–in one place and create interactive experiences.

As for mobile devices, especially touch-screen models such as the Apple iPhone, Blackberry Storm, and Palm Pre increases, news organizations across the country have expanded their online efforts to develop mobile media sites that allow users to access content in formats and screen sizes customized for mobile devices.

Packaging the multimedia project is the last but crucial part of the project. Bringing it all together will gain an audience, but if the package meets the need of the audience, you will keep them engaged for future projects. 

Interactive Multimedia

Interactive visual storytelling tools are growing rapidly. They make it easier to create unique graphics with very little effort and programming, and are increasingly open sources that are free.

Interactive media gives those journalists that know how to operate web platforms a chance to be creative and it also gives those journalists that know very little about operating web platforms a chance to learn.

The most important thing to keep in mind with interactive visuals is the planning of multimedia. Storyboarding is the most common forms of live motion storytelling, such as film and television, and a well-directed storyboard can lead to a clear and tightly edited information graphic. These same storyboards go into the planning of multimedia projects.

Another place we see interactive visuals is in news and the illustration of maps and diagrams. Diagrams take the audience places that cameras or reporters cannot. They show how something happened or the process of how something happening. Diagrams combine very little text with detailed illustrations to explain the important parts of objects or chronicle a chain of events. Interactive visuals give the audiences a new experience of viewing stories. 

Video and Multimedia

Video changed the game of journalism and today in multimedia; it continues to evolve into more than its typical norm.  During 9/11, no other medium can tell the story of a firefighter safely pulling civilians from the debris left from building that fell better than video. Of course, you may not be there with a camera when that happens. But if you are, video will certainly be more powerful, immersive, and dramatic than a written piece.

In multimedia, news packages that would appear on a newscast can also be posted to the web for viewers who didn’t catch its original airtime, however the process is more so planned as far as production, pre and post.

The most important tip for multimedia journalists is video quality matter, and just because you shoot video on a smaller camera or even a mobile device, there are ways to achieve great quality video. Being able to shoot high quality video and have the right technique as you shoot you story a videographer can use movement to tell the story as well.

Video is one of the most complicated forms of media to effectively produce and display for online formats. Videographers and photographers should have a basic understanding of the concepts of bandwidth, data rates, video resolution, compression issues, and delivery modes. With online media, video and screen size can be a difficult task to accomplish, but by knowing types of platforms your audience will view your piece on will better equip you in shooting a story for pleasing to the eye of the viewer.

Audio and Multimedia

Audio was the pioneer storytelling element. Before viewers could see a story, they were able to hear it. Now with the rise of Multimedia journalism, audio can add a new dimension to other story forms. Talk news is most the most popular and most common type of audio, but audio is a versatile story form that is common on other platforms as well. Audio stories can certainly stand alone on the radio or online.

Audio is typically combined with video, photo presentations, and information graphics, but before you can add all three together, you have to develop your narrative. That means the interviewing process has to be concrete. Interviewing is an art form and if not done correctly, your story of any kind can be weak and not have much impact.

One thing all journalists should consider is the ethical dilemmas that can come with audio. Recorded audio should never be manipulated in any way that’s misleading. The most important principles we as journalists live by are to never to alter the meaning of information. We have an obligation to the truth, be loyal to citizens, constantly fact check, and present fair and balanced coverage.

Because audio is something that you only hear, it is easy fall into the realm of unethical behavior.