Engaging with the New New Journalism: Survey Results of Educators
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Presented at the Ninth International Conference for Literary Journalism Studies (IALJS-9): "Literary Journalism: Local, Regional, National, Global”
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Engaging with the New New Journalism: Survey Results of Educators
- 1. Engaging with the New New Journalism: Survey Results of Educators Mitzi Lewis, Midwestern State University, U.S.A. John Hanc, New York Institute of Technology, U.S.A. Scott Ramsey, Midwestern State University, U.S.A. “Literary Journalism: Local, Regional, National, Global” The Ninth International Conference for Literary Journalism Studies (IALJS-9) Teaching the New Narrative May 2014 Panel
- 2. Teaching Literary Journalism in a Multi-Platform World: Survey Results of Educators Mitzi Lewis, Midwestern State University, U.S.A. John Hanc, New York Institute of Technology, U.S.A. Scott Ramsey, Midwestern State University, U.S.A. “Literary Journalism: Local, Regional, National, Global” The Ninth International Conference for Literary Journalism Studies (IALJS-9) Teaching the New Narrative May 2014 Panel
- 5. • AAUW American Association of University Women • ACCM Advisers of Christian Collegiate Media • ACLA American Comparative Literature Association • AEJMC Commission on Status of Women • AEJMC Cultural & Critical Studies • AEJMC Cultural and Critical Studies Division • AEJMC History Division • AEJMC Newspaper & Online News Division • AEJMC Religion and Media Interest Group • AEJMC Visual Communication Division • AJHA American Journalism Historians Association • AOJ Association of Opinion Journalists (formerly NCEW National Conference of Editorial Writers)
- 6. • APSA American Political Science Association • ASJMC Association of Schools in Journalism and Mass Communication • Aust Prof Writers Association • BAAHE Belgian Association of Anglicists in Higher Education • BLASA Belgian Luxembourg American Studies Association • Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center • CCA Community College Association • CMA College Media Advisers • ECRA European Communication and Research Association
- 7. • EPA Evangelical Press Association • IAMCR International Association for Media and Communication Research • ICA International Communication Association • IRE Investigative Reporters and Editors • ISA • NAHJ National Association of Hispanic Journalists • NASW National Association of Social Workers? • NAWE National Association of Writers in Education • Newspaper Online Division • ONA Online News Association • Other AEJMC sections • Other emerging media groups
- 8. • PCA Popular Culture Association • RSAP Research Society for American Periodicals • SANEF South African National Editors' Forum • Some Norwegian organizations for reporters and authors • SPJ Society of Professional Journalists • SXSW (South by Southwest) Interactive • TWUC Writer's Union of Canada
- 9. Countries represented • Norway • Poland • Portugal • “Several” • South Africa • United Kingdom • United States • Australia • Belgium • Brazil • Canada • China • Finland • Germany
- 10. Age in Years
- 11. Age in Years excluding non-respondents average 51.9 median 53.5 min. 20 max. 70
- 12. Years teaching
- 14. In what form do you have your students produce work (as class projects or assignments) in multi-platform journalism (and if you stick to one platform, please check just that one).
- 15. Select comments “I incorporate audio, video and slideshows in my capstone course, but not in my longform course.” “I require a multimedia of their choice of platform to accompany a print piece.” “Most assignments are written for print, but one assignment is to be done using video and/or still shots with an audio track and narration.”
- 16. Select comments, cont’d. “We use platforms like The Creativist to create long-form, digital and cinematic stories that are native to mobile and eReader environments. We also use programs like the InDesign to create some basic prototypes for interactive stories. We will be working with the Adobe Digital Publishing Studio as well.”
- 17. What platforms do you teach students to use to deliver long-form narrative?
- 18. Select comments “I'm involved in a program that teaches new forms, although my own teaching concentrates on words and still photos, with occasional forays into video.” “I don't teach platforms, just how to write a long-form story.” “I've also started using Cowbird.com for shorter narratives in class.”
- 19. Select comments “How does not do "long-form narrative" 140 characters at a time on Twitter???” “Not clear what you mean here since you can't really DELIVER long-form narrative on Facebook and Twitter. You can promote it on those social media channels and I encourage students to do that.”
- 20. What do these new platforms offer long-form narrative? Increased Likelihood for Publication New platforms offer venues “for publication and dissemination of texts that would otherwise remain unknown” Additional Publication Space “Unlimited space on the Internet, with the exception of the insipid Twitter” Opportunity to Promote Work The capacity to “advertise long-form narratives at other sites” Broader Audience “Broader audience, broader way of telling a story”
- 21. Do these new platforms change the stories we tell? If yes, how? Enhancement “More intertextuality, via technological enablers” Engagement “They throw up new juxtapositions of image and text, and digital reading has different ‘affordances’” Dimension “The new platforms literally open up the world of potential stories” Exposure “Provide opportunities to catch the attention of potential audiences who may not have otherwise been exposed to the story”
- 22. How do these new platforms change how we work with the long-form conceptual essentials of character, setting, plot, theme, voice, and structure? Essentials Remain Unchanged “New platforms do not change the above-mentioned essentials, as “[a] new platform is not a stage for narrative metamorphosis” Challenges “They force students to think as multiplatform editors” Improve Storytelling “Additional ways to develop and display these essentials”
- 23. How do these new platforms change how we work with the long-form conceptual essentials of character, setting, plot, theme, voice, and structure? (cont’d) Change the Form “With multimedia we can now emphasize capturing audio or video clips [that] highlight the most dramatic moments. This will change the form” Persona “Characters, possibly including the writer/narrator, are literally seen, which may change the persona the writer chooses in the prose” Expanded Possibilities “The platforms are like tools in a toolbox,” and the more tools one has to work with, the better the story will be
- 24. Are there any new conceptual essential(s) that these new platforms introduce? If yes, please list. Equality “More equality between writer and reader in terms of accessibility to sources” Interaction “They allow interaction, very short but very quick bursts of information, meshing of e-media with writing, photography, basically classic magazine and news journalism” Engagement “I find the opportunity for engagement to be a new concept, the idea that one can read, watch, hear about a topic and then also become engaged in it as a citizen or participant”
- 25. Are there any new conceptual essential(s) that these new platforms introduce? If yes, please list. (cont’d) Change “Interactive media is an untapped resource for long-form journalistic storytelling,” and is “useful for reaching younger online-fixated audiences” Accessibility “Multiple points of entry” Consistency New platforms require and promote “consistency across media” Editing New platforms “force students to think as multiplatform editors” rather than traditional print media editors
- 26. How can these new platforms help to sustain the viability of long-form narrative? Dissemination “Dissemination, at national and international levels” Increased Readership You “get readers who didn’t read these long stories to read them because they are promoted on social media and available in multiple formats (like on tablets)” Appeal “I believe they will make it more appealing to certain audiences that might not select to read a long-form piece otherwise” Profitability By “giving them space and cutting costs”
- 27. There are some who would argue that digital or multi-platform journalism cannot by definition, be literary journalism. Do you feel that new forms of narrative journalism can be considered under the rubric of literary journalism?
- 28. What’s so good about the emergence of new media platforms for literary journalism? • Greater access to younger, more diverse audiences • Allows for new dimensions of story telling • Presents new challenges, develops new skills for students • Not only for the “good” writers: Teaching multiplatform enables students with other skills to learn about and participate in narrative journalism
- 29. Challenges Increased demands Writers “are now forced to be videographers, photographers, audio engineers, etc.” “Although the newshole is, theoretically, bottomless, the pressure is to keep it short and snappy” Story selection “It may be that the new platforms privilege story topics that are more easily illustrated visually, so that important but complex issues that can’t be easily supported with images and video are overlooked” Importance of editing is marginalized “‘Long’ is not a good in itself, it if it not also EDITED. This does not always hpapen on digital platforms”
- 30. Challenges Profitability “I am not interested in blogging for free” Distraction “Sometimes, when you’re into a narrative, the last thing you want is to be interrupted. It makes you lose focus.” “The difficulty is the jammed ‘airwaves’” Keeping up “There is little training to allow faculty to make the leap.”
- 31. Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Mitzi Lewis mitzi.lewis@mwsu.edu Twitter: @mitzilewis John Hanc jhanc@nyit.edu
Editor's Notes
- We’ll be starting today with a brief overview of results from a survey of educators about engaging with the New New Journalism. We could also think of this as
- Teaching Literary Journalism in a Multi-Platform World. Other terms that have been used to describe this work during our conference include multimedia long form journalism, longform media journalism, and narrative multimedia storytelling Some of you may remember seeing an request to participate in an online survey at the end of the fall semester last year.
- Maybe some of you in this room even responded to that request. We are indebted to you and to the others who responded. The call went out to IALJS members via email, the AEJMC Magazine Division listserv and announcement in the newsletter, and the AEJMC Small Programs Interest Group listserv. 110 people answered the call. To get a sense of who we were hearing from, we asked about organizational affiliation.
- Some were affiliated with only one of the groups and some were affiliated with more than one. We also included an “other” option and found that many other groups—over 40—were represented.
- As with previous surveys, people from different countries responded.
- There were also a wide range of age groups represented.
- Ranged in age from 20 to 70 with an average age of about 52. Almost ½ are 55 or older ¾ are 45 are older
- Overall the respondents were an experienced group with over one quarter of the respondents having taught for 20 or more years (29%) and almost two thirds teaching for 10 or more years (64%)
- Slightly over half teach only undergraduates, a few teach only graduates, and many teach both graduates and undergraduates
- Print is still the dominant platform, but other platforms are represented as well Other (from the comments section): audio slideshows interactive graphics graphic journalism audio, video and slideshows in my capstone course, but not in my longform course. I require a multimedia of their choice of platform to accompany a print piece. infographics Interactive graphics. interactives interactives, graphics Most assignments are written for print, but one assignment is to be done using video and/or still shots with an audio track and narration. Mostly print, but some dabbling in AV and web. multimedia Multimedia packages on the web, data-driven narrative My students have worked texts, but not always printed ones. I usually work with internet platforms, like moodle. None online stories oral presentations, seminar discussions, written exams photography ppt, websites print (design) alternative story forms websites print, online social media embeds, interactive graphics social media, web, e-media design softwares, iPhone and "hotspots" (earlier years), and now we have a DRONE! still photos, and combinations of the above Storify These platforms are not included in EVER course. We use platforms like The Creativist to create long-form, digital and cinematic stories that are native to mobile and eReader environments. We also use programs like the InDesign to create some basic prototypes for interactive stories. We will be working with the Adobe Digital Publishing Studio as well. Web site web, info graphics Website Website wordpress blog
- These platforms already are in widespread use by students, instructors, and professional journalists alike. Nevertheless, the chaos inherent in change appears to have fueled uncertainty in the realm of journalism/mass communication, as is evidenced by the number of divergent responses. And yet, these platforms can furnish students the opportunity to publish and/or promote their work. New platforms also engender contrast in regard to teaching methods, subjects, and academic programs.
- New platforms accommodate publishing by providing additional venues for publication—thus enhancing students’ chances of having their work published—and offering more space for increased publication length. Moreover, new platforms allow students to promote their work and introduce it to larger, more diverse audiences.
- New platforms enhance the methods by which stories are told through the use of “technological enablers.” They augment storytelling by means of audio, video, info-graphic and the capability to incorporate multimedia. Moreover, new platforms are less confining, thereby expediting certain processes and increasing what is possible with respect to the processes and the final product; maps and photography also can be implemented into the story more easily than with traditional print forms. Furthermore, new platforms engage the audience better than traditional forms and make for a richer narrative and/or storytelling experience. Accordingly, they expand the potential for engagement and afford readers the chance to select areas in which to engage on a deeper level.
- The essentials of good journalism in general, and by extension long-form literary journalism, are of paramount importance since they are necessary elements of any effective story. Consequently, they are intrinsic components of journalism and are not changed by the conceptual essentials listed here. Nevertheless, new platforms challenge students to become familiar with new technology and how best to exploit it in regard to long-form narrative and storytelling in general, and they challenge instructors insofar as teaching is concerned (instructors must keep up with technological changes and new media platforms, lest their teaching become antiquated). Conversely, conceptual essentials such as “setting” must be approached differently because new platforms facilitate the act of “showing” rather than merely “telling.” In addition, they challenge students to approach literary journalism from different angles and perspectives, which results in part, at least, from the differences in new platforms and how they are utilized to enhance narrative structures.
- New platforms possess the capability to alter narrative forms by means of emphasizing audio and video clips that capture the most important or “dramatic” moments of stories. Likewise, new platforms can change the persona or voice the writer employs when writing in prose. Since new platforms are akin to tools, it logically follows that the more tools one has knowledge of and is capable of using, the better the possibilities for literary journalism (expanded possibilities).
- New platforms allow readers greater access to sources, thus engendering equality between author and reader. New platforms also facilitate interaction between writer and audience, which in turn encourages individual members of a team to concentrate on their strengths, which maximizes effectiveness and productivity. Social media essentially creates new possibilities for interaction among members of a team (in group projects) and between readers and authors. Moreover, new platforms offer readers the opportunity to become engaged in an issue and encourage audience participation in unfolding stories.
- New platforms offer the possibility for change given that they are “untapped resources” which can change the way narratives are approached and conveyed, as stories must be altered to fit the parameters of some new platforms. And change allows for stories to reach “younger online-fixated audiences,” whose comprehension may improve through the addition of visual and/or audio elements. Accessibility to long-form narratives is increased via hyperlinks, interactivity, exposure and access to sources. New platforms also promote, and require, “consistency across media.” Editing also is significantly altered by new platforms because online material must be edited differently than traditional print material, thereby compelling student journalists “to think as multiplatform editors” and ascertain what is best for each format.
- New platforms facilitate the dissemination of stories “at national and international levels,” and provide additional venues for storytelling, both of which help sustain the long-form narrative’s viability. Also, new platforms increase long-form narrative readership by broadening stories’ audiences and enhancing reader interest via hyperlinks and references to other media forms. Plus, readership is increased due to promotion on social media sites, among other multimedia platforms. New platforms make long-form narrative more appealing to audiences who are not prone to reading long-form narratives, but who are introduced to them through multimedia platforms like social media. The viability of long-form narrative may also be strengthened due to the profitability afforded by the Internet and the changing landscape of information dissemination.
- The emergence of new media platforms is transforming the landscape of long-form narrative journalism in myriad ways. While traditional print media remains relevant, multimedia platforms are steadily displacing print platforms as the medium of choice—or at least the medium of increasing prominence—among readers, especially younger generations of readers who find visual and/or audio components more appealing, and readers who are technologically inclined. Since this transition is underway, there necessarily is disagreement pertaining to the benefits of print media versus multimedia platforms, and regarding the advantages of one new media platform as opposed to another. Nevertheless, there are benefits to new platforms, depending, of course, upon how they are utilized. Some of the benefits are as follows: they make it easier for students to get their work published; they allow writers to market/promote their own work; they provide authors access to larger, more diverse audiences; they also increase opportunity, for the reasons above and then some. Nonetheless, new platforms are not yet so entrenched in society that there no longer exists room for debate with regard to this important topic.
- Alternative to being forced to do all: “work collaboratively…from the beginning of the project”