It's All Journalism

The rise of digital technology has not only changed the journalism industry, it's altered the institutions of journalism, where young storytellers learn the craft of reporting the news.   This week, three former guests of the podcast discuss some of the changes going on at universities and journalism schools and what the future of journalism education might look like.   Amy Webb is a digital media futurist, founder of Webbmedia Group Digital Strategy, and co-founder of cofounded Knowledge-webb Training and Spark Camp. She’s working on a book about forecasting the future and finishing a book about the future of journalism education, which the Nieman Foundation at Harvard will be publishing in June.   She’s working on a book about forecasting the future and finishing a book about the future of journalism education, which the Nieman Foundation at Harvard will be publishing in June. She also cofounded Knowledge-webb Training and Spark Camp.   "It should be in academia that the very best research and development and truly the future of communications is being built," Webb said. "That's where it should be happening. And so, I think if we recast what it journalism education with an eye towards the future, I think it is complete indisputable that journalism education, at least in the undergraduate realm, it has to continue. It just has to look slightly different than it does today."   Andrew Lih is the author of The Wikipedia Revolution and an associate professor at American University.   He began his career at Columbia University, where he conducted a new media makeover of the journalism program. While teaching at University of Hong Kong, he helped set up that school's new media program. Before coming to Washington, D.C., he revamped the journalism program at the University of Southern California. He's now helping AU to revise its undergraduate and graduate journalism programs.   "For better or worse, most journalism schools still have shoe leather, municipal reporting as the cornerstone of what they do," Lih said. "And we really have rethink if that's the way to go. Marketing wise, we are not really appealing to a lot of journalism students who might see journalism as an exciting thing that they don't really want to be an urban beat reporter to start off with."     Doug Mitchell is the founder of Next Generation Radio at NPR and The Journalism Diversity Project. He’s also an adjunct journalism professor at Georgetown University.   "It's a little interesting to feel like, when someone graduates from school, that they're a little bit behind," Mitchell said. "And maybe that's just the result of schools not focusing on where they're going. Journalism is a trade to me. People get a job. They get skills and they get a job. And it's always been that way. But I think that too has to change in some way. Maybe we need to create broader people. We need to create people who are interested in talking to people who are different from themselves."

Remember when The Jetsons seemed outlandish, with robots doing the majority of household chores and treadmills substituted for walking the dog?   Or how about the paranoia of 1984, with Big Brother tracking and recording all movements, conversations and using personal information against those who dared question societal norms?   There are elements of both in the current and future state of journalism, suggests Reuben Stern, deputy director of the Futures Lab at the Missouri School of Journalism. The watchful eye of Big Brother has its counterpart in private companies that collect and mine data for insight into consumers’ lives, while the automation of The Jetsons' futuristic world can be seen in the automated stories generated by the LA Times and similar methods used by the Associated Press instead of relying on reporters to create content.   “If you think about The Matrix, the major premise of The Matrix is that everything is data and the entire world is this data-driven thing we live in while we’re actually floating in cocoons producing heat for the machines,” he said. “That’s also the future of journalism. It’s all data. We live in this data world where we float through all these bits of code.”   If something like the ability to read a map, once an essential skill for traveling any kind of distance, has fallen by the wayside thanks to GPS capabilities and Wi-Fi-enabled gadgets, why wouldn’t journalism, and the tools used to create content, change as well?   The core mission of journalism remains unchanged, Stern said.   “All this technology that comes on board, all this future, ideally, is not going to change that,” he said. “As long as the journalists continue to use these technologies for that goal and that purpose, of informing the community so it can govern itself, journalism is always going to be just fine. In fact, the new tools give us new ways to do that, which is pretty cool.”   And as the divide between journalists and their audience diminishes, it’s possible the role of a journalism may transform into something else, part observer and reporter, part teacher.   Still, some old, tried-and-true methods will continue to be effective and necessary and shouldn’t be shelved, said Jackie Kazil, a data journalism expert.   “There’s one basic thing that has transposed time and that’s asking for directions,” she said, recounting a story her mother told her. Shortly after she departed Czechoslovakia, Kazil’s mother found herself lost in a forest and fell into a river. After getting to her feet, she came across a man and tried to communicate her situation.   “She points down to the ground and she says ‘Deutschland!’” Kazil said. “That’s her way of asking for directions in a language she doesn’t even know. That’s still a fundamental thing that people know how to do.”   In this week's It's All Journalism podcast, producer Michael O'Connell talks to Reuben Stern, deputy director of the Futures Lab at the Missouri School of Journalism, and data journalism expert Jackie Kazil about how technology is changing journalism as it's changing the world all around us.

Remember when The Jetsons seemed outlandish, with robots doing the majority of household chores and treadmills substituted for walking the dog?   Or how about the paranoia of 1984, with Big Brother tracking and recording all movements, conversations and using personal information against those who dared question societal norms?   There are elements of both in the current and future state of journalism, suggests Reuben Stern, deputy director of the Futures Lab at the Missouri School of Journalism. The watchful eye of Big Brother has its counterpart in private companies that collect and mine data for insight into consumers’ lives, while the automation of The Jetsons' futuristic world can be seen in the automated stories generated by the LA Times and similar methods used by the Associated Press instead of relying on reporters to create content.   “If you think about The Matrix, the major premise of The Matrix is that everything is data and the entire world is this data-driven thing we live in while we’re actually floating in cocoons producing heat for the machines,” he said. “That’s also the future of journalism. It’s all data. We live in this data world where we float through all these bits of code.”   If something like the ability to read a map, once an essential skill for traveling any kind of distance, has fallen by the wayside thanks to GPS capabilities and Wi-Fi-enabled gadgets, why wouldn’t journalism, and the tools used to create content, change as well?   The core mission of journalism remains unchanged, Stern said.   “All this technology that comes on board, all this future, ideally, is not going to change that,” he said. “As long as the journalists continue to use these technologies for that goal and that purpose, of informing the community so it can govern itself, journalism is always going to be just fine. In fact, the new tools give us new ways to do that, which is pretty cool.”   And as the divide between journalists and their audience diminishes, it’s possible the role of a journalism may transform into something else, part observer and reporter, part teacher.   Still, some old, tried-and-true methods will continue to be effective and necessary and shouldn’t be shelved, said Jackie Kazil, a data journalism expert.   “There’s one basic thing that has transposed time and that’s asking for directions,” she said, recounting a story her mother told her. Shortly after she departed Czechoslovakia, Kazil’s mother found herself lost in a forest and fell into a river. After getting to her feet, she came across a man and tried to communicate her situation.   “She points down to the ground and she says ‘Deutschland!’” Kazil said. “That’s her way of asking for directions in a language she doesn’t even know. That’s still a fundamental thing that people know how to do.”   In this week's It's All Journalism podcast, producer Michael O'Connell talks to Reuben Stern, deputy director of the Futures Lab at the Missouri School of Journalism, and data journalism expert Jackie Kazil about how technology is changing journalism as it's changing the world all around us.

I had the pleasure Saturday, May 30, with joining some of my fellow D.C.-area podcasters at Awesome Con. We presented a panel entitled "Pop Goes the Podcast," where we talked about our experiences producing podcasts.   It was a great experience sharing the stage with these creative people:     * Jennifer Crawford — The Jellyvision Show (http://thejellyvisionshow.podbean.com)     * Justin McLachlan — EOS 10 Radio Play and Podcast (http://www.eos10.com)     * Carolyn Belefski and Joe Carabeo — Carolyn and Joe Show (https://carolynandjoeshow.wordpress.com)     * Alex Vidales — Pilot Waves Podcast (http://www.pilotwaves.com)   All of us are members of the DC Podcaster Community, (https://www.facebook.com/groups/DCPodcasterCommunity/) a Facebook group of podcasters from the Washington, D.C., area. We host monthly meetings to share tips and socialize. If you're interested in joining us, look for us on Facebook.   DC Podcaster Community is sponsoring the first ever DC PodFest, which will take place Nov. 6-8, 2015, at The Wonderbread Factory in Washington, D.C. You can find out more about the event at the DC PodFest website (http://www.dcpodfest.com)and you keep track of updates by following us on Twitter: @DCPodFest (https://twitter.com/dcpodfest).

I had the pleasure Saturday, May 30, with joining some of my fellow D.C.-area podcasters at Awesome Con. We presented a panel entitled "Pop Goes the Podcast," where we talked about our experiences producing podcasts.   It was a great experience sharing the stage with these creative people:     * Jennifer Crawford — The Jellyvision Show (http://thejellyvisionshow.podbean.com)     * Justin McLachlan — EOS 10 Radio Play and Podcast (http://www.eos10.com)     * Carolyn Belefski and Joe Carabeo — Carolyn and Joe Show (https://carolynandjoeshow.wordpress.com)     * Alex Vidales — Pilot Waves Podcast (http://www.pilotwaves.com)   All of us are members of the DC Podcaster Community, (https://www.facebook.com/groups/DCPodcasterCommunity/) a Facebook group of podcasters from the Washington, D.C., area. We host monthly meetings to share tips and socialize. If you're interested in joining us, look for us on Facebook.   DC Podcaster Community is sponsoring the first ever DC PodFest, which will take place Nov. 6-8, 2015, at The Wonderbread Factory in Washington, D.C. You can find out more about the event at the DC PodFest website (http://www.dcpodfest.com)and you keep track of updates by following us on Twitter: @DCPodFest (https://twitter.com/dcpodfest).

“The best way to tell the story is to really try to give the reader a sense that they know the person they’re reading about.”   Steve Friess, a freelance journalist and former staff writer for Politico and Knight Wallace fellow ...

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