By JEFFREY MYERS
STAFF WRITER
Rutgers University Professor Loren Fisher gave a lecture recently to a class of journalism students, saying the key to getting a job in a tough, evolving profession is to “not suck.”
Fisher, a university professor and active photojournalist, spoke to students about the necessity of being capable in multimedia reporting.
A student capable of not only writing a story, but also working with photos, videos, and audio, will be a more appealing candidate for a job than someone only familiar with story writing, he said.
“The written word works, but not everyone wants to look at it,” said Fisher.
“The goal,” he said, “is to make stories so that people will look at them.”
Fisher maintained a positive – if not sometimes sarcastic – tone about the future of journalism throughout the lecture.
“There will always be a need for journalists,” he said. “But,” he also noted “the purpose of a newspaper is to make money.”
Many online sites, including nytimes.com have developed thriving online multimedia elements. These elements, Fisher says, will drive site-traffic and, eventually, revenue.
This is why, according to Fisher, a journalist capable of multimedia editing will be a more cost-effective employee to the newspapers.
It's also why he sees it necessary for future journalists to adapt to the changing industry.
In his lecture, Fisher said that it is only a matter of time until all news goes online. “It all comes down to what’s the best way to tell a story,” Fisher told the students.
Online media platforms, he said, enable journalists to utilize different storytelling techniques. Fisher used the example of audio slideshows as an alternative to written stories online.
The key, Fisher said, is learning how to become a “mojo,” or mobile journalist. “Your tools are no longer a pad and pencil, but instead a digital audio recorder and a video camera,” he said. “Coming out of school fully trained and fully capable are going to be your biggest assets.”
But Fisher stressed that it’s not enough to merely understand the theory behind the technology, but also to be able to utilize it practically to produce compelling work.
Fisher also stressed a change in the type of reporting that is going to be required of journalists in the future.
“Hyperlocal journalism is going to be the future of reporting. We will see companies that have hundreds of hyperlocal papers, which will cover only towns or neighborhoods,” he said.
Fisher predicted the end of statewide or regional papers, such as the Home News Tribune or Star-Ledger, and the emergence of sites like Patch.com, which is running and expanding as a hyperlocal umbrella website.
Reaction to Fisher's lecture was very warm. Students were happy to have a lecturer who did not talk about how the industry was dying.
Amanda Alcantara, a sophomore who attended the lecture thought that Fisher was on-point. “He really understands the nature of journalism – or any business for that matter,” she said. “The death of newspapers does not imply the death of journalism.”
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