We are the future.
Posted by Tim Gruber | Filed under multimedia, newspapers, photojournalism, state of newspapers
Melissa Worden, a multimedia producer at The Herald Tribune in Sarasota, FL, recently used my clown video to highlight an important point on her blog. In a post titled: If you don’t want to play, move out of the way, she writes:
Watch out reporters and photographers, future journalists set to join newsrooms full time in the next couple of years (if they stick around) are producing some nice online stories.
Her post is mainly directed at staffers working at newspapers, but as students there’s a lot we can take away in what she wrote.
The biggest being that editors at newspapers are going to be looking to us as students to not only understand and know a variety of tools, but quite possibly be able to educate and lead their newsrooms into using these new storytelling mediums. My girlfriend, Jenn, is interning out at The Deseret News in Salt Lake City. She’s the only one there who knows how to shoot and edit video. Here’s a recent piece she shot. Not only is she the only on shooting video, but they’re looking to her to give them advice on the type of equipment they should buy. Sure she can and does capture great still images, but there’s a staff of shooters that can do the same. She’s making a name for herself in the newsroom by having a diverse set of skills that extend beyond the printed page.
For students this isn’t a question of if and when you should be doing video. You should. You can pout, kick, whine and fuss all the way to the editing lab, but unless you have a change of heart quickly you might find yourself selling coffee instead of telling stories. Your new media skills are the biggest commodity you can bring to your resume. The clips and photos in your portfolio no matter how strong they might be will be diminished by the work of students who show diversity and a willingness to use and understand every possible tool at their disposable.
Newsroom staffs are already full of people that use and understand the printed word and photograph well. You’ll never match their experience. What they have on you in experience you can make up for in your willingness to learn and grow.
This was confirmed for me earlier last week when the editor here in Roanoke took all the interns out for lunch. One question I asked was, If you were looking to hire someone today what would you look for in that person? Carole responded by saying she’d want someone with a willingness/hunger to learn and adapt as our industry changes. (not her exact words, but it sums up what she was saying.)
So as students it’s essential that we continue to push ourselves to grow and learn. Isn’t that why we’re in school? We are the future. Embrace it.
Tags: internship, journalism, photojournalism, sta, video
