UNIT 13 – What Is A Multi Media Journalist

What is a multi media journalist? 

Multimedia journalism is the process of combining text, images, sound, videos and graphics, to tell an interesting story. Multimedia journalists often work for newspapers, radio or television stations or use computers in social media areas.

It can be one multi-skilled reporter telling a story for TV, radio and online or it can mean running a newsroom where journalists working in different media collaborate.

Here are some typical examples of where multimedia can bring an extra dimension to a story:

• Case studies: video or audio interviews with someone at the heart of the story: affected by the issue or working at the coalface
• Reaction: video or audio interview with the person responsible: capturing their attempts to explain their role
• Clarity: charts, maps or infographic turning data into something that users can understand more quickly. Tools useful here include Google Charts and Gadgets (in Google Docs), Many Eyes and Tableau for charts; Tagxedo, Wordle or Many Eyes for word clouds; Google Maps and BatchGeo for maps; and Infogr.am for infographics.
• Explanation: taking something complex and making it accessible to a wider audience – this might be done through a graphic, or through a video or audio interview with an expert who can explain it clearly – including a member of the team
• Conflict and chemistry: staging a podcast discussion to flesh out the key themes in the issue being explored. This can be done in an entertaining way if your presenters have chemistry, or it can be done in an engaging way if you have two camps in conflict (make sure you can add clarity and expertise into the noise)
• Interactivity: producing something that users can interact with. Freedive is a useful tool for doing this with spreadsheets. There are also timeline tools like Dipity and Meograph, and charts and maps can be interactive too.
• Curation: bringing together multimedia content by users in a way that adds valu

 

What skills does a multi media journalist need?

There are many skills that you need to be come a multi media journalist, because you have so many responsibility and jobs you need these skills to back that all up.

• Picture editing
• Digital knowledge
• Writing
• Filming and recording
• Social media
• Interviewing
• Presenting and Reporting
• Researching

 

Bibliography

• https://onlinejournalismblog.com/2012/08/21/how-to-get-started-as-a-multimedia-journalist/
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/journalism/skills/multimedia-journalism

Focus Group Evaluation

The first question I handed out was if the topics I had written interested the reader and if so why. Most people said that the copy that I had produce was interesting and current the main article that go mentioned in this question was the terrorism piece because it is happening all over the world. However someone did say that they are not necessarily topics they would search for but they’re interesting enough to keep reading.

I then went on to ask if the topics where relevant to my chosen target audience which is 16-24. All the people I talked to said that the stories are relevant because the generation I have chosen are more aware of politics and world news, someone did say that the terror article may not be “entertaining” to read but personally I disagree because I feel more young people need to know what’s happening in the world because we are the generation that’s going to be live it. When looking at the feedback on the Halloween makeup video, everyone one said that this is relevant to the target audience and is something they would all like to see more of.

Finally all of the group said they would read these article if they saw them online, one did add they would have liked more information, a follow up, at the time of it been published online.

 

9.3.1 – Evaluate Product and production of Webzine

Here is my final website product, as you can see my theme has a clean and professional looking design that is simple and easy to follow. The only area my ideas developed in was the colour scheme. I tried many different combinations but I personally found this one to be the more eye catching and it worked well with the layout. I have used some other webzines to help me and to use as inspiration when it came to layout and designing my site but I do think I could have done a little more so I know what it is my target want. The main site I went to was RED online magazine it has a great layout and colour scheme whilst looking clean and professional, as it says by the name the colour they use is red and white/creme these colours are great for them as they have a very wide ranged target audience and personally I need to take this in to consideration when it comes to my FMP. The main skill I have developed it to be able to use This Is Tap, it was a new platform for me to use and I feel like I adapted to it well and will be able to carry on using.

The product I have created fits the specification and target audience well whilst also for filling there needs of a online magazine. It delivers the information well and is easy to use which is what I think every site needs to meet.

I asked Miya Biggin (17) a journalism student what she thought of the site I had created. Miya said “its easy to follow and find out the information that you want to read about” she also added “its convenient as I can get on the site from any device, it has a appealing design and colour and it does its job as a online magazine.”

Taking all this on board when I need to create another site I will used and adapt the skills I have learnt, for example how to use This is Tap, knowing what colour schemes I like and how they affect the audience. Also if I was to complete this process again I would like to produce a more in-depth deveopment of my production stage. If I was to be critical about the site I have produced here I would like to change the colour, it does work well against the black header and drop boxes but its a very light blue when working with a completely white background. If i was to go though the same process again I would either choose a different colour blue or make the white background a different colour that contrasts better.

9.2.2 – Plan and Develop own Webzine

 

The theme that I have chosen to use is called Genie which has a couple of different layouts to choose from; the Wall which is just lots of images that have the heading for your post in the centre which when selected takes you too the work, the Grid which offers a simple layout that looks very similar to pintrest but to me looks cluttered and too simple and then the Classic Layout which is that one I am going to be choosing when creating my site because its simple and easy to navigate whilst looking professional.

SKETCH – 

This is a sketch of of my site, as you can see I have placed where my title is going to be and navigation bar. I am going to be producing my site within ThisisTap.

Development – 

 

Thisistap is the software I used to create my website it was easy to use and follow.

MY FINAL LAYOUT –

My site “linked” was made with the classic layout because I wanted a simplistic style which I like plus all age ranges will be able to navigate easily. I like the way the articles with images are displayed in a wall and be moved across like a slide show. I do think this layout will be attractive to all ages because it shows you the information without you having to go looking for it which is the beauty of this layout. I also edited my site so when you hoovered your mouse over the wall the image brightened which is a nice feature just to keep the consumer engaged and interested. 

I then created a search bar with  navigation drop down tabs that further keep the reader interested by having a little more to do than just click on “technology” plus its a easy way of finding specific pieces.

9.1.2 – Interpretation of Research and Intended Use

A webzine has many impacts and effects on its target audience. One of them is that the audience feels closer to the producer of the webzine because they can access it anywhere, if this is in there home or across the other side of the world and because there is so many different type of online magazines with different genres and characteristics that draw in different people for example RED, has characteristics that I would like to use when starting to create my product. For instance the drop down menus, that allow people to easily navigate though the site without getting lost and confused. This is something that has really stuck out to me and makes me want to create something that has the some of the same characteristics as RED.

When anything happens around the world it immediately gets uploaded online to webzines and social media, this impacts the audience so quickly and efficiently, sometimes without the second thought. Assign as the person uploading the information clicks save, its online and you may be able to take it down but its already left its mark on the world. This is what I am going to be taking from my research and just been careful on what I am writing because I don’t want to be coming across single minded and very opinionated.

From researching Logos and fabicons I have learnt that all these small factors make a webzine more fun and a interesting experience for the user. When looking at the logo for  Apple its very simple and you know what the brand is without having to read anything. I want to create something like this that is eye catching and stands out.

Also looking at my research I want to have social media connections to my site, this allows people to share and interact with other users, friends and family thought the site. With people sharing the site it also create a online community and intern creating free publicity for the website. I want to take this idea and put this in to place when creating my website.

I intend to produce my webzine with the same ideas in mind; having copy that is eye catching and current. This also means to create a site that has response and a retina design.

ESSAY

For this essay, I anticipate that the digitalization of the journalism industry has been for the best and has been one of the best technical advances in a long time. I expect to find out how technical advances has had an impact on journalists lives and how they have had to adapt to accommodate their audience, either this been online or in magazines. I also anticipate to find out that people have found it a hard transition this not just been the journalist but the reader, the fact that they have had to learn how to get their information from somewhere else.

The reason I have chosen to research this is because I think this was a difficult thing for journalists and their audiences to deal with and overcome. I want to learn and understand what journalists had to do and how they had to adapt to draw people online to read and see there copy. This is going to help me in my own work by finding out what draws people to online publications.

Concurring to my first academic source Bradshaw and Rohumaa, “some fear that ‘traditional’ skills of news gathering and news writing will disappear, and that technology will become more important that stories” (2011, pg2). This is stating that tradition ways of gathering and writing copy is going to be over took by technology, as this was written in 2011 it has happened now we have gotten to 2017. This quote depends on what you as the reader interoperate the word “traditional” as, I see it as pen and paper and going out on the street to find the story but others might see it as asking lots of personal questions to get enough information to draw in their readers. I asked Stacey Rhodes (18) a journalism student what she thought. She said “I think that the traditional skills of new writing haven’t changed as much as the gathering side of journalism have, you just need to be carful what your writing because it will stay on there for a long time.” This quote links to my hypothesis and supports it because it states that technology will become more important along with online media.

According to Lareau which is a cultural source, “All this digitization has meant a move away from equipment-based jobs” (2017). This quote is stating that because of the digitalization movement the lives of some journalistic roles have been compromised and they have had to adapt to continue with there careers by keeping up with the technical advances. This backs up my hypothesis because it shows that people have had to adapt and in some cases be laid off work.

Lareau also said “The fact that digital equipment is easier to use has led to new expectations of how we work, and blurred job titles and job descriptions. Citizen journalism has allowed the numbers of reporters and photographers to be lower. The growth in numbers of amateur columnists and opinion writers is staggering” (2017).  This quote suggests that the industry has needed less and less highered reporters because people have now got smart phones and cameras, due to the advances in technology, so readily available to capture the story and post it straight to the internet. This quote also suggests that a journalist doesn’t only now do the writing or just the sourcing. Where this quote states “blurred job titles” it means that they don’t have a specific job or skill, they do everything and anything because if they don’t the journalist is going to be left behind. All this suggests that the digitalization movement is better for the industry but not for the individual journalist. This quote backs up and further supports my hypothesis because it explains how both citizens/readers have help the journalist and the journalism insdusty.

Moving on to my next academic source. According to Foust, “on the internet, more than with any other mediums, people have the power to choose the information they want when they want, retrieve it how they want and where they want” (2005). This quote suggests that the reader has all the power when it comes to what is going to read online, this makes it hard for the journalist because if a piece of copy is put in a newspaper its in and there’s nothing the reader can do about it but when a journalist post a piece of there work online the reader can choose to go no where near it and therefore the journalist getting no hits. This quote supports my hypothesis because it explains that the reader is the one in control and that the journalist is having to adapt to capture the attention of the reader to get their hits.

Foust also said “the internet provides the potential for a greater level of audience involvement in the journalistic process” (2005). This quote further backs up the previous point by saying that the audience have had to adapt from just reading the copy to been able to adapt the copy that’s already written and add extra.

My final source is from a newspaper. According to Krotoski, “The web’s effect on news reporting is considered the most clear evidence that this is a revolutionary technology: news editors – and in some cases, the governments that they observe – are no longer the gatekeepers to information because costs of distribution have almost completely disappeared.” This quote suggests that people already know what’s going on within the news before the reporter has time to use the tradition methods to report the same news. This is, as the quote says, the revolution of technology. This links and supports my hypothesis because it talks about the technical advances and how this has had a great impact on both the journalist and the reader.

Overall, from doing my research I have found out that my suggested hypothesis was correct by analysing quotes from both my academic and cultural sources. From books that talked about “traditional skills” and “evolving” to journals talking about digitalization, I have also included people’s opinion on the matter. The only point in my hypothesis that I have been unable to find out is; how people have found the transition when digitalization took place.

Research Sources –

Foust, J.C. (2005) Online journalism: Principles and practices of news for the web : Holcomb Hathaway Publishing.

Krotoski (2011) What effect has the internet had on journalism? What effect has the internet had on journalism? [online] 1/2/17 at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/feb/20/what-effect-internet-on-journalism

Lareau (2017) The impact of digital technology on media workers: Life has completely changed [online] 31/1/17 at http://www.ephemerajournal.org/contribution/impact-digital-technology-media-workers-life-has-completely-changed

Rohumaa, L. and Bradshaw, P. (2011) The online journalism handbook: Skills to survive and thrive in the digital age: Prentice Hall.