Reporter, a.k.a. Multi-media Information Gatherer and Distributor
Posted on Wed, Jul 14, 2010 @ 06:30 AM
What do we call people who report the news these days? I find it amusing that the industry is struggling to come up with new names for reporters. Are they VJ's? Backpack journalists? Multi-media journalists? Multi-platform reporters? Perhaps you prefer the old-fashioned "one-man band" name.
Since when does a change in technology dictate finding a new name for yourself? Musicians didn't become digital recording artists when they started putting their songs on iTunes. Hearst recently announced that their reporters were all being trained to create and distribute material in all sorts of places - but they were sticking to the "reporter" name. Good call. In the newspaper world, photographers who grew up shooting film now shoot digital still pictures and take video, too. So are they photographers or videographers? Or digital jounalists?
One thing is certain -- for the readers/users/viewers who receive information, it really doesn't matter what we call ourselves. This new identity crisis of ours is just a reflection of the industry's temporary uneasiness with technology change. A reporter who filed a story by telegraph 100 years ago was still reporting. Yes, it's cool and it requires some new skills, but does sending a story using a Droid phone really require a title change?
- John Altenbern