Introducing a New 'E&P' Feature on the New 'New Journalism'

By: Maegan Carberry There?s nothing like knowing that, after all the sweat you?ve put into your career as a journalist, some guy on a street corner with a digital camera and a .blogspot.com can call himself a citizen journalist, while your respected colleagues are getting pink slips and you?re wondering when you?ll be next.

This is a common complaint from many of my friends from the Medill School of Journalism and my former MSM co-workers, who often express how easy it is as young journalists to feel disillusioned about the future these days. I?ve worked in both print and online media, and I?m sad to say the grass appears greener from either side. At my reporter?s cubicle I wanted to be more innovative and from my blogger?s laptop I miss my awesome health insurance.

We can?t forget, however, that it?s a unique time to be in this field. The chances to lead are extraordinary.

With this introduction, E&P is launching a regular new feature that I will be writing/directing (others will join in, as contributors or in blog-like comments) titled "--31--." Here I will be exploring how younger journalists can shape the future of news and storytelling. For starters, it seems fitting to address the terms of engagement under which members of my generation experience information consumption.

It extends well beyond our obsessive-compulsive love of our Facebook newsfeeds. We are coming to professional and personal fruition with the mentality that news is a collective conversation on multi-media platforms, not just what I like to call Brussel Sprouts Journalism, where an editor at a desk serves up content they think we should read ? even if we don?t want it.

The question of how such a collective conversation will retain the objectives of fairness, factual accuracy and substantive content is the quintessential challenge for millennial media leaders. The greatest obstacle to achieving success will be weathering the discouraging climate of a dying culture: fighting to preserve one?s job in the face of budget cuts, fine-tuning the skill of reporting when the job calls for J.Lo-esque multi-media-tasking, and winning the respect of veterans who fear change and undervalue the knowledge of young staffers.

Right now we?re in the midst of a dynamic, hybrid media landscape, where we can?t accurately predict the future but we can maximize the strengths of both traditional and new media.

We often fear that the value of properly vetted material will give way to mob rule online, but most new media outlets see themselves functioning compatibly and feel a responsibility toward credibility and ethics. In an email exchange I had last week with Digg.com?s Senior Director of Marketing, Beth Murphy, she pointed out that many newspaper outlets are now posting Digg buttons at the end of their stories, and that despite criticisms that young people shun hard news, World, Business and Elections news are among their most popular sections.

Likewise, we?re seeing user-generated aggregator sites crop up where at least some content is editor-guided, for example my friend James Boyce?s Newsladder.net network or the soon-to-be-renamed women?s lifestyle site Sk*rt.

Given a plethora of information, everyone is searching for a reliable funnel. Whether it is an established newspaper brand, a like-minded community, or (as Julia Allison argues persuasively in a Yahoo! Tech Ticker Interview with Sarah Lacy) an entertaining and discerning personality, vetting still matters. Which means journalists still own a valuable asset and must persevere at what they do best: communicate essentials and principles to others.

It takes intestinal fortitude right now to stick to why we all pursued journalism in the first place, but is there really another option? You have to choose to see opportunity and be excited about the robust possibilities of engaging our peers in the issues of consequence.
*
To take part in this discussion, or comment on this intro, contact the author at the email below or write E&P Editor Greg Mitchell at: gmitchell@editorandpublisher.com