Journalism 3601 : A class blog

The article assigned last week took a very honest and innovative approach to bridging the gap between print and online journalism. Personally, I’m not technology’s biggest fan (I got vintage typewriter for Christmas and refused to blog until forced to at Temple) but I appreciate the idea that jounalism is changing and journalists must change with it.  I think it’s really important for journalists to take advantage of various blog sites, like Jim Romenesko’s Poynter Institute, which is mentioned in the article as a way for journalists to communicate with others in the field and their audience. 

The article also talked about the importance of audience interaction.  Frankly, this freaks me out.  Clearly, it’s a good thing for your reader to be able to comment about your writing.  The two-way interaction the internet allows your audience gives them the opportunity to express their thoughts about your ideas; however, as we discussed in class, I don’t think that the web should turn journalism into a “free-for-all.”  As stated in the article by Jeff Jarvis, “More and more, journalism is going to be owned by the audience.  That doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for pro-journalists, who will always be there- who need to be there- to gather the facts…” which seems like a rational way to look at how the internet should allow journalism to progress.

Another part of the article I found particularly interesting was the discussion about journalism school. The article talks about how journalism schools are typically “conservative and slow-moving.”  This seems to be the “old school” kind of journalism school people associate with undergraduate journalism programs.  I think Temple is one of the few journalism schools that strays away from this stereotype.  With programs like MURL, Temple teaches journalism in a way that prepares its students for using their skills in different mediums which is really forward thinking.  No matter how much I just want to write, I know it’s important to understand at least the basics of other mediums particularly the web.  I think this article did a nice job of outlining the concerns for the modern journalist without making the industry seem like it’s fighting a losing battle.