Where students from the University of Mississippi's Meek School of Journalism and New Media showcase their JOUR 102 (Intro to Multimedia Writing) classwork.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Are College Journalism Students Bad at Multimedia?
Michael Koretzky, adviser of the Florida Atlantic University Press thinks so. And he lists his reasons why in an article, published here. What do you think of his assessment? Do you agree or disagree, based on his reasoning?
After reading the article, I agree with author. I know for a fact if you asked me to do an "online exclusive" I would dread having to write it. The format of online writing is not as easy as pulling up a Word document and writing a 400 word story. Multimedia journalism really is the future of journalism, but I can speak for myself and say that I try to take the "easy way out" when I am assigned a video assignment. The whole "FlipCam" thing is all crazy to me to. I personally enjoy taking photographs, not video document every move someone makes. Call me old fashion but I like picking up a newspaper everyday and reading the latest headlines.
I completely agree with the author of this article. I also have seen fantastic news papers and then later have been in places that a copy was not available and decided to look at it online, only to discover that the online version of the newspaper was horrible. With the printed text everything was neatly laid out and split into sections with a road map, if you will, telling you how and where to find the information you were looking for with a few flips of a page. When I logged on the their website I found it very hard to navigate and couldn’t find anything that I was looking for. Everything on the website seemed to be jumbled and all ran together. I would prefer to sit down with a newspaper and a good cup of coffee in the morning as opposed to looking at a computer screen.
I agree with the author in the sense that jobs in "print journalism" are becoming more scarce, but at the same time they are becoming more of a commodity. I have absolutely no problem with print journalism, but the internet is the future. This is not a guess, but a truth we must all realize. I have read both the print version and the online version of the same newspaper and I have made some conclusions. The print news was easier to read and had a much less complicated index when searching for a specific article. However, the print is not better because it was an easier read, in fact it is not better at all. I can only speak for myself, but I realized that I was not used to the idea of news online. I wasn't used to the way it looked and therefore could not concentrate solely on the article I was reading. I felt a bit distracted by the advertisements also. The question is not "Will the internet kill print news writing?", the question is, "When the internet kills print news writing will we be able to adapt to news online completely?". News on the internet is merely a child, a recent product of society. Just like a child it needs time to develop. In regards to the author's comments on the structure of news websites being boring or too complicated. I think that if we wait and watch we will see that in a few years news online will become much more attractive to the eye of the news watcher. people don't like online news because it is strange to them, we need to give it time.
When I first read the title of this article, I was offended and positive that Koretzky was wrong. As I read the article I began to realize that I was the one that was wrong. I agree with Koretzky's theory that college journalists are against multimedia journalism because it is so common. My generation finds nothing special about having an article online because anyone can put whatever he or she wants on the internet. It makes one feel much more accomplished to have physical proof of one's writing skills and to know that money and much effort was taken to make sure that people read his or her article. In the end I believe it is all about ego.
I totally agree with this article. I think it is really neat how one can express how they feel to everyone online. I dont think the internet will hurt the news that we watch on television, i think it is a good way to catch up on things when there is no TV around.
I agree, but I suppose that comes with provisions. Out of all fields, the media is changing more rapidly than any of them. My reason for that statement, is that there are plenty of professional papers that have not been able to catch up to this evolution of media. Besides that, its totally different when you are doing it for a profession rather than a glorified school project.
I can see how the author's theory is logical. He seemed to hit the nail right on the head when it comes to the way college students tend to become "sheeps" in the herd behind certain trends and when something becomes rare, they feel the need to be included in order to seem "exclusive". However, I believe his theory is only partially the reason behind why college journalists don't put forth more effort in the matter of online journalism. As Koretzky said, college students want to impress their friends, but they also tend to fall into a trend. News on the internet isn't trendy. Why bother to read boring and/or depressing news about politics and foreign affairs when you can see who's in a relationship with who on facebook? Or who did what this weekend and was tagged in what album? Or even look to celebrity gossip sites to expand their social networking. College students want to be exclusive, however no college student wants a social life consisting of CNN, FOX and MSNBC.
For the most part I agree with the author that as the internet continues to grow, it definitely continues to be a threat to printed media. Students looking to obtain careers in journalism will have to become much more comfortable with the internet and all it has to offer and readers will have to learn to adjust to searching through websites to find the news. Although this may be the case, printed media still proves to be a comfort and routine for many. I think that this is the case not only because it is still more thoroughly edited and authors tend to spend more time on an article that is being sold, but also because it is much more easily navigated and read because it has been around for so long. Journalism will definitely have to find a happy medium for print and internet as it develops in the future... Because after all, who wants to sit down in the morning at the table with their coffee to a computer instead of the paper?
I agree with the author when he says that print media is more popular and more organized and appealing than online media, but I believe it's because print is still more accessible and easier to read than print. Most people, not only college students, would rather just pick up a newspaper or magazine and read it than have to get out their computer or go to the library and read media online, which is not nearly as organized or easy to find. Therefore, it makes sense that journalists would spend more time trying to make their paper or magazine look nice than their website if most of their customers will never see the website anyway. Also, I don't think the reason that many college media sites are horrible is because the students are lazy or not as "experienced." I think it's because they are in college and focused more on achieving a good grade than on making their paper look good. Most of the most well-known journalists of our time were once college students themselves, so it's not fair to say that being in college automatically means you're not capable of putting out great work.
Michael Koretzky touches on major issues with the new generation that will soon be entering the work force. I agree that my generation grew up with the internet and is less phased by the technology. Instead of thinking an editorial or news story written by you could be seen by the entire world we thrive to snatch the cover of the weekly paper. I'm not sure if it's the fact that you can't hang a laptop from mom's refrigerator door or that it's just a boredom with technology but the times are shifting and so should our mindsets. I think we should embrace our generations gift of technology before we get lost behind. The world is going green, desperate for convenience and the internet is the universal answer. Koretzky was right when he wrote, "Web, renewable energy. Prink, fossil fuel." I think it's time media puts a facelift on internet media because it is a vast growing news source.
Mr. Koretzky makes valid point within his argument: however I disagree with the college kid stereotype. For the most part he is correct about the prestige of print journalism he also happens to be correct about the connection with college students and the web being pre-established in middle school. The disagreement I have with this article comes into the spotlight when Mr. Koretzky refers to the Internet paper being seen as a dead end. I and plenty of Journalism students I know are actively involved with the internet. We stream videos and post blogs about whatever subject is passionate to us. In my opinion most college students do not spend as much time with the internet paper because no one has challenged them to rise to the occasion. How does a baby learn to walk after months of scooting and crawling? Someone places them on their feet and calls them out to the come to them. If there was a challenge that interested us we would certainly rise to it. I believe if most journalism schools focused upon multimedia in the freshman stage of their students education multimedia would be more liked and encouraged among the next generation of journalist. ~Kaylah Johnson~
I agree with the article also. The connection with college students and the internet is strong instead of watching tv. If college freshman started focusing on journalism, then they would be more developed.
I agree with all of his statements. Especially about how we like to be the first to get something in our friend groups or in our family and how we love to brag about it. It's human nature to be boastful, especially when you get your work printed in something that hundreds if not thousands of people are going to read. One thing I would say is that I think the reason online newspapers are suffering with creativity is because they are fairly new to the world. For hundreds of years the world has been printing the news and only in the last maybe 10 years or so has the internet really exploded into something that could harvest an entire newspaper. I also enjoyed the part of his article where he talks about how amazing you feel after having something printed on paper for everyone to read, where as anyone can post something on the internet and anyone can read it, but when you have your work printed in a newspaper, it makes you feel special, unique, and one of a kind. I believe that within the next 15-20 years or so online newspapers will become a larger part of news than printed newspapers, because with so many people wanting to save the planet and save the trees, I believe that printed news will eventually stop running and it will all be electronic in order to be a "greener" planet.
After reading the article, I agree with author. I know for a fact if you asked me to do an "online exclusive" I would dread having to write it. The format of online writing is not as easy as pulling up a Word document and writing a 400 word story. Multimedia journalism really is the future of journalism, but I can speak for myself and say that I try to take the "easy way out" when I am assigned a video assignment. The whole "FlipCam" thing is all crazy to me to. I personally enjoy taking photographs, not video document every move someone makes. Call me old fashion but I like picking up a newspaper everyday and reading the latest headlines.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with the author of this article. I also have seen fantastic news papers and then later have been in places that a copy was not available and decided to look at it online, only to discover that the online version of the newspaper was horrible. With the printed text everything was neatly laid out and split into sections with a road map, if you will, telling you how and where to find the information you were looking for with a few flips of a page. When I logged on the their website I found it very hard to navigate and couldn’t find anything that I was looking for. Everything on the website seemed to be jumbled and all ran together. I would prefer to sit down with a newspaper and a good cup of coffee in the morning as opposed to looking at a computer screen.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the author in the sense that jobs in "print journalism" are becoming more scarce, but at the same time they are becoming more of a commodity. I have absolutely no problem with print journalism, but the internet is the future. This is not a guess, but a truth we must all realize. I have read both the print version and the online version of the same newspaper and I have made some conclusions. The print news was easier to read and had a much less complicated index when searching for a specific article. However, the print is not better because it was an easier read, in fact it is not better at all. I can only speak for myself, but I realized that I was not used to the idea of news online. I wasn't used to the way it looked and therefore could not concentrate solely on the article I was reading. I felt a bit distracted by the advertisements also. The question is not "Will the internet kill print news writing?", the question is, "When the internet kills print news writing will we be able to adapt to news online completely?". News on the internet is merely a child, a recent product of society. Just like a child it needs time to develop. In regards to the author's comments on the structure of news websites being boring or too complicated. I think that if we wait and watch we will see that in a few years news online will become much more attractive to the eye of the news watcher. people don't like online news because it is strange to them, we need to give it time.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read the title of this article, I was offended and positive that Koretzky was wrong. As I read the article I began to realize that I was the one that was wrong. I agree with Koretzky's theory that college journalists are against multimedia journalism because it is so common. My generation finds nothing special about having an article online because anyone can put whatever he or she wants on the internet. It makes one feel much more accomplished to have physical proof of one's writing skills and to know that money and much effort was taken to make sure that people read his or her article. In the end I believe it is all about ego.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with this article. I think it is really neat how one can express how they feel to everyone online. I dont think the internet will hurt the news that we watch on television, i think it is a good way to catch up on things when there is no TV around.
ReplyDeleteI agree, but I suppose that comes with provisions. Out of all fields, the media is changing more rapidly than any of them. My reason for that statement, is that there are plenty of professional papers that have not been able to catch up to this evolution of media. Besides that, its totally different when you are doing it for a profession rather than a glorified school project.
ReplyDeleteI can see how the author's theory is logical. He seemed to hit the nail right on the head when it comes to the way college students tend to become "sheeps" in the herd behind certain trends and when something becomes rare, they feel the need to be included in order to seem "exclusive". However, I believe his theory is only partially the reason behind why college journalists don't put forth more effort in the matter of online journalism. As Koretzky said, college students want to impress their friends, but they also tend to fall into a trend. News on the internet isn't trendy. Why bother to read boring and/or depressing news about politics and foreign affairs when you can see who's in a relationship with who on facebook? Or who did what this weekend and was tagged in what album? Or even look to celebrity gossip sites to expand their social networking. College students want to be exclusive, however no college student wants a social life consisting of CNN, FOX and MSNBC.
ReplyDeleteFor the most part I agree with the author that as the internet continues to grow, it definitely continues to be a threat to printed media. Students looking to obtain careers in journalism will have to become much more comfortable with the internet and all it has to offer and readers will have to learn to adjust to searching through websites to find the news. Although this may be the case, printed media still proves to be a comfort and routine for many. I think that this is the case not only because it is still more thoroughly edited and authors tend to spend more time on an article that is being sold, but also because it is much more easily navigated and read because it has been around for so long. Journalism will definitely have to find a happy medium for print and internet as it develops in the future... Because after all, who wants to sit down in the morning at the table with their coffee to a computer instead of the paper?
ReplyDeleteI agree with the author when he says that print media is more popular and more organized and appealing than online media, but I believe it's because print is still more accessible and easier to read than print. Most people, not only college students, would rather just pick up a newspaper or magazine and read it than have to get out their computer or go to the library and read media online, which is not nearly as organized or easy to find. Therefore, it makes sense that journalists would spend more time trying to make their paper or magazine look nice than their website if most of their customers will never see the website anyway. Also, I don't think the reason that many college media sites are horrible is because the students are lazy or not as "experienced." I think it's because they are in college and focused more on achieving a good grade than on making their paper look good. Most of the most well-known journalists of our time were once college students themselves, so it's not fair to say that being in college automatically means you're not capable of putting out great work.
ReplyDeleteMichael Koretzky touches on major issues with the new generation that will soon be entering the work force. I agree that my generation grew up with the internet and is less phased by the technology. Instead of thinking an editorial or news story written by you could be seen by the entire world we thrive to snatch the cover of the weekly paper. I'm not sure if it's the fact that you can't hang a laptop from mom's refrigerator door or that it's just a boredom with technology but the times are shifting and so should our mindsets. I think we should embrace our generations gift of technology before we get lost behind. The world is going green, desperate for convenience and the internet is the universal answer. Koretzky was right when he wrote, "Web, renewable energy. Prink, fossil fuel." I think it's time media puts a facelift on internet media because it is a vast growing news source.
ReplyDeleteMr. Koretzky makes valid point within his argument: however I disagree with the college kid stereotype. For the most part he is correct about the prestige of print journalism he also happens to be correct about the connection with college students and the web being pre-established in middle school. The disagreement I have with this article comes into the spotlight when Mr. Koretzky refers to the Internet paper being seen as a dead end. I and plenty of Journalism students I know are actively involved with the internet. We stream videos and post blogs about whatever subject is passionate to us. In my opinion most college students do not spend as much time with the internet paper because no one has challenged them to rise to the occasion. How does a baby learn to walk after months of scooting and crawling? Someone places them on their feet and calls them out to the come to them. If there was a challenge that interested us we would certainly rise to it. I believe if most journalism schools focused upon multimedia in the freshman stage of their students education multimedia would be more liked and encouraged among the next generation of journalist.
ReplyDelete~Kaylah Johnson~
I agree with the article also. The connection with college students and the internet is strong instead of watching tv. If college freshman started focusing on journalism, then they would be more developed.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of his statements. Especially about how we like to be the first to get something in our friend groups or in our family and how we love to brag about it. It's human nature to be boastful, especially when you get your work printed in something that hundreds if not thousands of people are going to read. One thing I would say is that I think the reason online newspapers are suffering with creativity is because they are fairly new to the world. For hundreds of years the world has been printing the news and only in the last maybe 10 years or so has the internet really exploded into something that could harvest an entire newspaper. I also enjoyed the part of his article where he talks about how amazing you feel after having something printed on paper for everyone to read, where as anyone can post something on the internet and anyone can read it, but when you have your work printed in a newspaper, it makes you feel special, unique, and one of a kind. I believe that within the next 15-20 years or so online newspapers will become a larger part of news than printed newspapers, because with so many people wanting to save the planet and save the trees, I believe that printed news will eventually stop running and it will all be electronic in order to be a "greener" planet.
ReplyDelete