Why I love the new journalism

Why I love the new journalism? The answer is simple. Because everything is possible! Every single thing!

We are currently in a time of change. The web is making things possible, which before people only could dream of. And in the same time professional equipment is getting cheaper and easier to understand.

Affordable gear on your back
Travelling around with my (brand new) backpack, I can do it all as a journalist. Filled with a laptop, video and photo camera and a  quality audio recorder I can work for any medium, everywhere.

Of course working with all these different type of equipment is a challenge, but on that I like.

Being a multi media journalist (or a journalist 2.0) doesn’t mean you have to do it all, all the time. You do what is best for a story. Is this a video, photo, or text-only story?

UPDATE: It is of course not only what you think is best. It is also about what the mediaoutlet for whom you work want.  As my friend Peter suggested: If you they want you to make a picture, you make it.

Media Mash-up
The web gives you the possibility to present my story in layers.  An example:  I twitter my news in less then 100 characters. I write a short news article, and link to additional background information. In a video I can show the personal story.

With a few clicks I can create audio slideshows, and with help of some technical skilled people I could create a Flash presentations which make complicated statistics understandable, linked to a news story and some video’s.

The Community Formally Known As The Audience
We are witnessing a change in journalism. Currently you see a moving from the traditional one way sender-message-receiver model to a dialogue between the sender and the reciever, and between the receivers.

For the first time in the history of journalism people can really talk back, without any filters. Of course using the comment function, but more often the discussions are moved towards Twitter – with or without the author.

But in the end, this interaction will only improve your story. People giving you feedback and point out other interesting stories. Or just simply point out a typo (Thanks to @aaiboek and @PvdP).