Kate Kenny

Newsroom 3.0: The development of Digital Journalism

Good Bye Print Journalism and Hello Digital Media.

Print Newspapers are rapidly becoming extinct as digital media develops.

Newspapers statistics have fallen rapidly as weekly and regional print newspapers only reach 17% of their local audience. The days where a typical morning would include a walk to the local shop to buy a newspaper have well and truly gone; newsroom 3.0 has been introduced. This is creating the extinction of print journalism.

Digital media has allowed the world to access news 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Great news for us but what does this mean for our print journalists? Is the future of newspapers in jeopardy?

Michelle Ewen, Press Officer of 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, spoke of her past experiences as a print journalist and how newsroom 3.0 will be a success due to the everlasting advances of technology and the internet.

Michelle Ewen, former journalist at News Weekly said:

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“When I started being a journalist it was before even email, journalism was much more being a detective as it was harder to find stories, the internet makes things much easier. I use to work to one specific deadline. It was fixed and unmoveable and once a story had gone to press we had a whole week to create a different news story.”

She added:

“Online journalism has made everything much faster, I have Google at my finger tips, I can be a detective and a researcher with no trouble. The internet now never turns off, every day and every hour is deadline day. Working pressures are a lot harder but it’s made a lot more opportunities for work.”

Newsroom 3.0 is a progression; it is a progression of digital media. The world is becoming more advanced every day and journalists have to keep up with the changes. Journalists have to use the tools they have been blessed with to their advantage. The world will always want more; they are greedy and want to know every possible detail they can. Digital media has allowed journalists to give that to them all day long every single day.

Discussing digital journalism, Michelle said:

“The infiniteness of twitter and the internet has allowed journalists to engage with a much advanced wide spread audience. There is not a particular target, anybody can be consuming news. Social media influences the generational change.”

“People reflect back through twitter and social network sites which gives journalists an open door to stories.”

If this is the case, if journalism has now changed to digital, that would mean there isn’t enough room for print newspapers. After all there can only be one boss and print journalism has run its course. There is no need to leave your house to discover what is going on in the world. Everything you need or want to know is a click of a button away. It is that simple.

Ashli Watson, Journalism student at the University of Central Lancashire said:

“I do like print journalism. Newspapers allow me to soak up the news more intensely but you can’t get better than social media. If I am stuck on a bus in a traffic jam, twitter can tell me what has happened. You can get any information you want then and there.”

Social networking sites are also a progression through newsroom 3.0. Whether you want to know what your best friend is doing, whether Man United beat Man City or what bogus David Cameron has been preaching, Twitter will tell you. Twitter is an essential tool that connects journalists to their audiences. There is no better way than connecting to an audience than by communicating with them directly, allowing them to become contributors.

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A mobile phone is what most people use to consume news. You can find and gather news with just a click of a button.

As a current student of Journalism, digital media has been an interesting subject. To be a success you have to be the best and to be the best you need the skills.

Michelle stated:

“If you want a job, you have to be a multi-media journalist. Journalism has changed massively. You can not be an inspiring journalist now without being very varied with your skills. You need to be blogging, tweeting, writing, taking photographs. You need to be advanced and skilled with audience appropriate platforms.”

“You have to be a copywriter, a social media expert, a photographer. There is not a journalist who has one area of responsibility. Newspapers can’t afford that.”

Where do aspiring journalists start? Pinterest, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, Weebly, Wordpress, Instagram, Blogger, Flickr, Youtube.

Answer? All of these. Every single one.

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Journalists are in competition not only with the world, the news and other journalists but also with themselves. Eventually, although very sadly, newspapers will fold, especially at a local level and journalism will revolve around digital media. A journalist has to be there, your story has to be there on every single digital media site. Tell your story through a video, a picture, through words but make sure it is there.

Online journalism is the new, best and fastest way to not only consume news but also to gather news. Leave your newspapers in the bin and say hello to newsroom 3.0: The development of digital media.

Left above: Old fashioned media consisted of a cup of tea and a read of a newspaper. Right above: Old fashioned journalist hard at work: a desk, a telephone and numerous papers.

Michelle Ewen, former print journalist and Press Officer at 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

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Kate Kenny