Will 2010 be remembered as the year we switched our focus from how we create to what we create? I certainly hope so, as frankly I'm getting tired of the endless non-debates between so-called 'old' and 'new' media, apocalyptic headlines announcing the 'death' of – to name but a few recent examples – print, storytelling and news, and enormous generalisations masquerading as analysis.
News Rewired at London's City University aims to be a more practical event for those "who are pioneering new techniques in journalism", rather than a festival of analysis where commentators compete for the most provocative new application of theory. The NUJ's New Ways to Make Journalism Pay event in London a few days later promises more of the same, plus consideration of how to put new skills to profitable use.
I've long argued that the message has been neglected in favour of the medium, so made a contribution to the emerging discussion on the News Rewired site by condensing one of the sessions I run for the students I teach at the London College of Communication and Goldsmiths College. In it, we look at a very entertaining, informative and in-depth piece of journalism by the BBC's Alexis Akwagyiram on the 20th anniversary of hip-hop.
There are lots of nice touches, and a lot of different techniques used to create a coherent whole. What I particularly like is that the piece knocks down one of the supposed golden rules of web journalism – keep it brief. There are more than 3,000 words – and that's just the copy – here, but a little thought and imagination makes it an engaging experience.
I also make reference to FLYP magazine, which states its aim is to "exploit the full palette of web tools to provide users with an engaging multimedia experience about the issues shaping America". It's one of my favourite online journalism destinations, not only because of the quality of the journalism, but also the quality of presentation. Adam Westbrook also referenced FLYP in an excellent piece on the Journalism 2.0 blog entitled Why The Designer Holds The Key To The Future Of Journalism. In it, he argued that good design isn't just a case of style over substance. It opens up a new landscape of narrative and storytelling to the journalist. I read it as I was putting together a post for my own blog, It's Time For Design 2.0. I've been worried for some time that technology is making many media companies see design as simply assembly, and it's good to see respected new media commentators such as Adam pushing a different view.
So, while it's early days, I'm optimistic the media conversation will take a turn for the better this year. We can acknowledge new economic realities while also rejecting the tendency to use technology primarily to level down, save costs and deliver 'just enough'. There are tremendous opportunities for journalism at our fingertips, but to take advantage of them properly we need to assert our creative control. And that's got to be more useful than another debate about whether print is dead.*
* Apparently, it's not.
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