Journalism Education and the New Media Landscape

(ii) UK regional press

It’s STILL the story, stupid!By James Anslow, City University London

Old skills in a new world

++stop press++stop press++stop I spoke to you briefly at the Google thingamee yesterday. I was (and indeed still am) the xxxxxxx editor at The xxxxxxx. It was nice to meet you and I liked your talk immensely.

You asked the assembled company what was the one thing they wish that they had been taught at journalism college. I wanted to respond in case you thought it might help your students. I think all journalism students starting out now should spend as much time working on their own personal brand as they should spend time working for the brand of their employer. 

They should see blogs, twitter etc. as a way of promoting themselves, of cultivating a readership that they can take with them from job to job. 

I think this is the key difference from how I was taught to behave when I started journalism. Then, the paper, the editor and the newsdesk were king and your identity as a reporter was subsumed within the whole. 

Now that reporters have their own access to their readers the hierarchy is becoming less important and individual journalists have more power and many more opportunities to control their own destiny. 

++stop press++stop press++stop

The death of sub-editing..or just of sub-editors?

Plus ça change ?

Wapping, East London, 1986 Credit: The Times

‘New is people’

Harold Evans, Editor Sunday Times 1967-1981

Start-ups like Daily Beast

Big-business hyperlocals

DIY UK hyperlocals like SE1

Edgy news like The Latest

Local papers

The bloomin’ Beeb!!

So what should we teach?

Today’s lesson..and tomorrow’s and tomorrow’s is..

It’s still the story, stupid

An intro is an intro is an intro: tighter than ever, faster than ever, more relevant than ever, safer than ever

 PRINT PRODUCTION – 1

 Tutor: James Anslow              

X No! 

Words Images Video(You’ve got to do it all)

• Procure• Present• Produce

You’ve got to do all that too!

5 Rules of New Journalism• THERE ARE NO RULES: Or if there are, nobody knows them

yet. And if they think they do, it’s too late..they’ve changed. We’re all feeling our way and it’s best to be honest about it. But there are useful guidelines.

• OLD SCHOOL IS GOOD: Tight, fast,relevant, safe. Contacts. Contacts. Contacts. Network. Network. Network. Real and virtual. Be different from the barmy bloggers: be professional. Know how to get stories from PEOPLE as well as Twitter and Facebook.

• DO IT ALL:  Get the story. Present the story (to an employer or client). Produce the story. Be comfortable in as many media and on as many platforms as possible and be familiar with as many applications as possible. Know how to take and edit stills, video and audio. And know when not to. Lo-tec not hi-tec. Flips not heavy gear. It ain’t broadcast journalism. BUT keep a specialism in your back pocket.

• BLOG THYSELF! Let the world see how good you are.

• IT’S A SMALL PLANET: Remember international opportunities.

Tips for teachers

• Tell students: Just DO it! Hands learn faster than heads

• Emphasise networking and CONTACTS• Remind them: News is people and people TALK.

New quotes beat churnalism every time• They MUST keep blogs and sites up to date• Immerse the students in New Media landscape

as well as mainstream news and culture• Keep module descriptions as unspecific as

possible and ready for instant change• Stay ahead of the game and maintain global

academic and professional networks

ASK HIM!

Conclusion

Journalism is alive and well and living online…and in more need of effective teaching than ever