The current journalism environment is evolving at a pace that can surely leave people behind if they do not learn and embrace new technologies that are available. Now, enough with the broad intro sentence, let’s talk about journalism and new media. I was immediately interested in the topic of the articles as this is something that I have been thinking a lot about lately. It seems that not having Cindy as a professor this summer gave me a media technology break that I would not consider beneficial in any way; I didn’t even know about Twitter.
Learning about tools such as Twitter is frankly mind-blowing to me in the fact that these programs have the chance of completely changing the industry. The journalism industry has obviously changed over the years but those papers that choose to embrace new technologies are either rewarded or looked down upon by traditional papers as embracing a fad. New media when related to journalism includes many things but their applications are so beneficial (at least in my opinion) that I find it hard to classify any of them as fads. Anything that gives us news faster and is more easily accessible than finding a tangible copy of a paper is good in my book.
Understanding the applications of new media is now of great importance in the evolving industry and the articles helped to explain the need for more new media centered classes in university journalism programs. Classes taught by older faculty with no idea on how to utilize new media applications are not entirely useless, just soon to be outdated. We need the journalism classes taught by seasoned professionals but if the landscape of journalism is changing, will these professors be enough to prepare students?
I am not attempting to gain Cindy’s favor with this statement but I consider our class lucky to have the chance to learn about emerging technologies and applications that challenge the idea of the traditional journalist. Reading the articles just reaffirmed that for me. If the face of journalism is changing every year, why are more university programs not taking up additional classes dealing with new media? I think those programs with little emphasis on new media technology will soon learn how truly important an education in the area is.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
But when it comes to old and new media, the argument does not necessarily have to revolve around age. Technology is created and then people learn how to use it. It's that simple.
Now... it seems as though younger generations have been more curious into exploring the world of new media and have adapted to those changes quickly. Why haven't older generations? Are they afraid of change?
What if older generations picked it up just as fast...? Then wouldn't it be helpful for them to teach journalism classes in which students are eager to understand but have not yet fully grasped the methods of online communication?
Older generations aren't afraid of change . . . they just choose not to be bothered with it. While I may be a media freak who seeks news from mostly online sources, my grandmother, who knows a hell of a lot more than I do about absolutely everything, chooses to gather news by print and broadcast sources. She'll read a book, one of three daily newspapers or ten monhtly newsletters, or two weekly news magazines she subscribes to. And the woman actually takes the time to read them all! And I've left out several other publications she receives on a regular basis. It's not that she doesn't know how to get online (she's taught me quite a few things). She just prefers to not be bothered with surfing online, unless she wants more information about something she's read that she just can't find anywhere else. Did I mention she's beyond inquisitive?
And, why must older generations be the teachers? My grandmother and I are constantly teaching each other.
When talking about the older demographic of professors and their reluctance to change I was speaking in an observational and historical aspect.
We can argue all day long about how you had a few young teachers in college. That is great. Looking back on the average age of your professors though, did you not see a pattern?
Did you not hear professors gripe about new technological advancements such as TRACS and Blackboard? Did you not observe that many of these professors had teaching assistants that seemed (at least at the conception of such programs) almost entirely devoted to updating and entering data into these programs?
In response to Heather's post:
The older generations do not need to be teachers. When talking about articles pertaining to universities and technology though, I thought that talking about a generation of older professors was appropriate.
We can argue all day long about some example you may have of an older professor who was just great with technology, but looking at a more broad image (which is without a doubt mostly subjective thanks to me), there is a problem with older educators in adapting to new technologies and learning how to teach and demonstrate them to their students.
It may not be about age, but it is about change. The programs and professors that choose to learn and utilize new technological methods will only improve the experience intellectually for students.
Post a Comment