I was watching the media summit from The State University New York at Oswego and had many of the things that I have thought about in the state of today’s media. Before I go any further I must say in the name of correctness that this school is where my wife received both her BA and a Masters Certificate.
The state of journalism has always been a growth industry with it getting better as each generation used the improvements that they are presented to do a better job of informing the rest of society about what is happening. It was possible to get more information faster about more things that are occurring all around us. My family may sometimes laugh at the fact that I will leave the news on television most of the day. I also spend a lot of that time yelling at the program, when I see how dumb some of the reporters can be.
One of the statements on the summit dealt with what new journalists (no matter what media) should learn in college before they go into the industry. It was a general agreement of the panel that the more variety of classes the student takes, the better they will prepare themselves for the job of explaining what they are seeing as they report stories. One recent example may explain my point. I have seen several reports about water pipe leaks showing the repair being done that shows the reporters have no knowledge of basic construction. Is it really needed, maybe. If they are describing the work they should at least know what construction equipment they are showing. A back hoe is not a bulldozer. A back hoe is used to dig a hole or a ditch or to fill it in when the work is nearing completion. Is that an important difference? Yes, it tells us that the reporter actually does know what they are talking about. It tells us that they know what questions to ask and when the answers are based on fact or if a PR person does know what is happening and giving correct information.
The media is no longer only the print media. It has also gone beyond the broadcast media, to the point where some who are blogging now want to be included as members of the press. We have always needed to see any news source as only a source and not the complete and end all of the truth so that has never changed and we must keep that in our thoughts. When they don’t seem to know what they are talking about, then you will ignore what they are saying. One of the complaints that seems to be coming up about just in the media and in many areas of business is, what happens to long term employees? It seems that many newspapers have been reducing staff, by laying off the older more experienced people. They want to use the less expensive younger staff to do more work. Many excuses are given. The fact is that the newer people may cost less but they know less and they don’t seem to have been given the background to know that good writing really is important to getting a story across to readers. Even on television you need to be clear to be sure that the viewer knows what you are trying to say.
You may think that I’m bitching as an old man, but I think that I’m only concerned as a news “junky” who doesn’t like yelling at the TV or finding dumb errors in the newspapers that I read.
So remember the five W’s and the H and write well.
Photo is by: David Armelino | The Oswegonian
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