Online Journalism or Journalism Online? There is a difference

September 13, 2010 by

[Editor’s note: Robert Hernandez of the USC Annenberg faculty will be posting frequent commentaries to OJR about online journalism this academic year.]

I’m a journalist, first and foremost.

It doesn’t matter the medium — pixels or paper, airwaves or WiFi — I want to produce it, distribute it, consume it and innovate it. Oh yeah, and I want to save it.

But the term “journalist” is a broad category that is only increasing in size, filled with diverse specialties and talents.

So, if I may, I’d like to be more specific: I’m a Web journalist.

No doubt you’ve heard of this term before, but recently I’ve notice a misinterpretation of the term.

Please allow me to clarify it.

When I first started my Web journalism career, a good friend and mentor pulled me aside and planted a concept that still guides me today: It’s not Journalism Online, it’s Online Journalism.

There’s a lot of difference between the two, besides rearranging the words. To me it is simple and powerful.

Think of it this way: Art Online or Online Art.

Take a photo of Mona Lisa, one of the most famous works of art in the history of mankind. Get a nice, hi-res image of the painting and post it onto the Web.

The single image on the Internet brings this classical piece of art to millions of people who never will travel to Paris to see it first-hand.

That is Art Online.

Now, think of art that takes advantage of, or is based on, technology and the Internet. It’s a type of art that can only exist because of the Web and the latest technology.

To do this, the artist has to be creative in both the artistic and the technical space. The artist must harness technology to captivate its intended viewer, listener‚ user.

Instead of describing it, take a quick trip and experience some Online Art here… but come back, please. Check out Jodi.org (I recommend these two pieces) or Seoul-based Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries (Here are two examples) or explore the collection at Turbulence.org (like this one).

On The Media did a profile on an art piece that merges the digital realm with real life. A simple device with a powerful title: “A Tool to Deceive and Slaughter.”

This art piece could not exist without the Internet. Without eBay, of all things. It’s art that evolves and even generates revenue for its artist.

So, back to clarifying the journalism terms.

Journalism Online is what we use to lovingly call “shovelware,” which is taking existing “legacy” content and posting it on the Web. We know that there is immeasurable value in having the paper’s articles, radio show’s podcast and TV show’s newscasts available on the Web.

Text alone is perhaps the most powerful form of journalism on the Web.

But that is still Journalism Online.

What I do…. what I identify with… what I live and breathe is Online Journalism.

So, what is that exactly?

Well, it’s hard to explain but I look at the latest technology and opportunities only available on the Internet and try to harness them for the advancement and distribution of storytelling and journalism.

I look at FourSquare and see how we can use that to find eye-witness sources in breaking news events. I look at photo gallery widget by TripAdvisor, meant for vacation snapshots, and see how it could enrich our coverage of, say, the World Cup.

I work with engineers and see how our crafts can work together and create new experiences. Like when we took RSS feeds from around the globe and mapped them for a Seattle Times project. It was based on the addicting, but somewhat pointless Twittervision.

Think of how more powerful our journalism becomes when we crowd-source. Add some technology, like CNN did by using Microsoft’s PhotoSynth, and it captures a historic moment in a unique way.

Don’t get me started on augmented reality.

What can I say? I am a geek. A technophile. An iPhone addict.

But I’m a journalist first.

News judgment and ethics are core. Fear of and respect for deadlines drives me. The sick sense of humor we use to cope with traumatic news events is my warm blanket.

The newsroom is my home.

I’m just a mad scientist taking the latest tech to help advance the Fourth Estate.

I’m a Web journalist.

Well, at least until the new technology replaces the Web.

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News convergence isn't easy for student journalists, either

June 17, 2010 by

The Millennials in our journalism classrooms are supposed to be wizards of the Web. After all, almost their entire lives have been spent consuming media in a converged landscape, reading newspaper stories and watching TV reports online while communicating with one another via online social networks.

A Pew Research study from February backs this up: “For (Millennials), these innovations provide more than a bottomless source of information and entertainment, and more than a new ecosystem for their social lives. They also are a badge of generational identity. Many Millennials say their use of modern technology is what distinguishes them from other generations.”

The study cites technology as the top factor that those born after 1980 say makes their generation unique. At 24 percent, it’s twice the rate of that of Gen-Xers. But the twist to all this is that our journalism students are not so different than grizzled veterans of legacy media, at least not in practice.

They know they spend their entire lives connected, but it doesn’t mean they automatically default to multimedia and a convergence culture in the classroom or the workplace. They seem to have a hard time translating how they consume news and information to how they should produce it. Many, though certainly not all, of them still see themselves as part of traditional media. It’s a sense that’s reinforced when campus newspapers and radio and television news staffs remain in separate quarters, rarely (or never) working together.

Bringing them together in the same room was the first step toward converging. Last fall, the Schieffer School of Journalism at Texas Christian University opened a new 2,300 square foot Convergence Center, the centerpiece of a $5.6 million renovation of the facilities for the school. The facility is home to the TCU Daily Skiff student newspaper, the TCU News Now broadcast and Image Magazine. The three were previously in separate rooms and their content kept separate.

“As a print journalism student, just being close to the broadcast students made sharing content much easier,” said David Hall, the fall 2009 editor-in-chief of the Skiff. “We’d constantly bounce ideas off of each other and share news content, and sometimes students would do a print and multimedia element to their story, something unheard of back in the day of separate newsrooms.”

The Convergence Center is built to facilitate what the name implies. Every one of 36 Mac computers is loaded with Adobe Creative Suite (including Photoshop, InDesign, Flash and Dreamweaver) and Final Cut Express. The center also has a high-definition video camera and TelePrompTer that are connected to a new studio.

“Because News Now and Skiff staffers were working in the same newsroom, we were much more aware of what the other one was doing than we were before,” said Julieta Chiquillo, the Skiff’s managing editor in fall 2009 and editor-in-chief the following semester. “Even then, we had to establish a system to better communicate.”

And that’s the key. While the outlets are now all in the same room, the process to convergence requires more work.

“Prior to this new facility, I felt that student media were very disjointed. They did not share information or work together. Instead, they had a mindset of ‘competition’ with the other outlets,” said Christina Durano, the News Now news director in Fall 2009 and convergence producer the following semester.

Students truly working across platforms had its moments. There were times when a reporter, like Durano, produced a breaking news video for the Web, worked on a text story for both the Web and Skiff, and later a broadcast story. Still, that was the exception, based more on an enterprising student than standard organizational practice.

“While moving to the convergence center undoubtedly helped the Skiff and News Now feel more comfortable with each other, both outlets need to improve on communicating their expectations of each other if they are to successfully converge,” Chiquillo said.

Changes in the curriculum are helping, too.

Separate degrees in news/editorial journalism and broadcast journalism have been replaced with a new overarching journalism degree that exposes all students to multimedia, although there are traditional certificates in broadcast, convergence and news/editorial for students wanting those designations.

Current courses have been updated. Accompanying text stories and a multimedia element are now required in addition to the video story for all News Now stories students produce for classes. In the traditional print reporting course that feeds the Skiff, multimedia stories are now required.

The challenge is getting all of the content where it needs to go with any regularity. The organic approach of simply putting everyone together hasn’t produced consistent results.

We have to keep in mind that students are still learning. Expecting them to be able to report across platforms while they are maneuvering around the basics is a lot to ask, although a realistic demand of the marketplace – and that’s not taking into account that their work in student media is just a small piece of their college life, not a full-time job.

That’s not to say there is nothing that can be done. Student leaders from the Skiff and News Now began holding budget meetings together, sharing ideas and pooling their limited resources. The new student leaders are continuing the work and are developing systems to ensure better content flow and integration of all of the media.

“I think the biggest challenge was changing the mindset of reporters and developing a system through which to converge,” Durano said. “Convergence is a process – and we certainly aren’t finished yet – but we are a thousand times more converged than we were.”

Aaron Chimbel is an assistant professor of professional practice at TCU’s Schieffer School of Journalism. He also advises TCU News Now. Before this TCU grad returned to campus in 2009 he worked for television stations in Texas, most recently WFAA-TV in Dallas. There he won five Emmy Awards and a national Edward R. Murrow Award.

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Newspaper journalism isn't dead; just look at the numbers

June 4, 2010 by

Headlines read, “Newspapers are dying” and “Struggling newspapers fear the future.” The future for traditional newspapers is grave at best.

This doomsday outlook for newspapers has been repeatedly reiterated in study after study. From polls showing dwindling circulations numbers to surveying the social media platforms that people now use for news, these studies have shown that traditional newspapers are no longer a thriving business model.

However, a new study was recently released by the Newspaper National Network that found the number of unique visitors to US newspaper websites is at an all-time high. From March to April 2010, the top 25 markets grew 10 percent reaching 83.7 million. These visitors generated a total of more than 2 billion page views in April, up 24 percent from 1.6 billion page views in January.

This study is a strong indicator that journalism isn’t dead. Nor is the quest for news diminishing as the newspaper industry has struggled. And while newspapers lay off journalists and fail to meet the needs of the public, it is now apparent that Americans are actively finding an alternative source to keep abreast on the news they care about.

Another interesting aspect of this study is that newspaper websites, collectively, were more popular than sites like CNN.com or MSNBC.com. This is a dramatic change of website usage of the past. No longer, are most Americans turning to national news sites before browsing their own local newspapers.

This is great news for every newsroom around the nation. In fact, this may be the silver lining for the survival of newspapers. By turning attention to optimizing their website, these newspapers may be able to save themselves from bankruptcy, laying off staff, and ultimately shutting their doors for good.

The bad news is newspapers have yet to figure out a way to generate enough circulation and advertising revenue from the Web to restore historic profit margins of almost 30 percent for publicly held companies, and as high as 50 percent for privately held.

Succeeding online is not as easy as some may think. And for those editors who have read the Newspaper National Network survey and are planning to bolster their website and in return charge their readers to offset the cost might be surprised at the results. Long Island’s daily paper spent roughly $4 million to redesign and re-launch its site, charging online readers $5 a week, or $260 a year, to get total access to news. In three months only 35 people signed up. Newsday’s free Web traffic nosedived, and advertising revenue decreased.

Industry analysts estimate equivalent Web advertising generates less than 10 percent the revenue of lost print advertising.

Joining the information revolution is a balancing act that both small and large newspapers must turn to to keep afloat. The Internet is not going away and neither are the problems with print newspapers.

Editors must face reality, put greater resources into their websites and adapt to new models for gathering news. By utilizing the Internet, newspapers have the opportunity to involve citizens, broaden their reader base and attract a network of loyal followers.

Jason Stverak is the President of the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, a leading journalism non-profit organization. The Franklin Center is dedicated to providing investigative reporters and non-profit organizations at the state and local level with training, expertise, and technical support. For more information on the Franklin Center please visit www.FranklinCenterHQ.org.

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