SAMANTHA BARRY “Journalists, newsrooms and editors will tell stories using the language of messaging apps — stickers, emojis, gifs, vertical video.”
This prediction caught my attention based on an article I read reviewing a world-famous restaurant. Noma in Copenhagen is regarded by many as the world’s best restaurant, and over the last two years has done three widely-publicised pop ups in Tokyo, Sydney and Mexico respectively. Tejal Rao, a critic for publication Bloomberg, reviewed Tokyo’s pop up completely in emojis.
I think it’s an interesting practice, but can only be done for soft, brief journalism that relies on some sort aesthetic appeal. I’d be sad to see more complex journalistic integrity be undermined by emoji supplements. I think these days it’s important for the story and angle to be as immediately captivating as a visual symbol.
LAURA E. DAVIS “Be authentic by being more honest about what you know and what you don’t. It’s a small part of all things we can do, but it’s something we can do now — and frankly should have been doing all along.”
With such a saturation of angles, topics, experienced and even recycled hard news, for journalists that are wanting to be an auteur and carve an identity within their writing. It’s important that journalists are informed enough to notice loopholes, gaps and cut deep within a topic. Authenticity allows contemporary writers to be less prone to failure, as the factuality of harder robotic journalism can make us more vulnerable.
As technology is the main outlet for young journalists to push their brand, authenticity allows us to be more appealing and relatable. It’s obviously quite different to the realms of hard reporting, but if soft and impersonal is your vibe than authenticity is key.
