Reading through the NiemanLab predictions for journalism 2017 edition, I was drawn to Joanne Lipman’s comment. Through her personal uplifting prediction towards future journalism I have to say I was rather inspired, and in response started to see the evolving world of technology as a never ending box of options for the art of storytelling. Joanne’s words lead me to think about all the stories I have already covered during my years of undergoing journalistic studies, and in some way it encouraged me to take a step back and question have I really produced past work to my best ability considering the large variety of modern technology that I could use to my advantage to assist in creating a captivating story. Leaving me to query my creativity as a storyteller and my inability to recognise how narrow minded I’ve been so far in pursuing my career as a journalist through my hesitation to experiment with technology. Therefore I believe an interest in implementing technology into my future work will make certain elements of my stories more engaging to an audience of today.
I was also sparked by Nathalie Malinarich’s prediction about future journalism not becoming somewhat easier in its approach, but rather for journalists to adapt their work style to modern technologies in order for consumer’s expectations to be met. This statement made me reflect back to when I started scripting for my journalistic broadcasting pieces. When I first began I found I was writing adjacent to my writing style I used in my print pieces written for assignments. It was when I began to shorten sentences and simplify things I began to think I was going astray from the traditional journalistic writing techniques. However I realised in order for me to achieve for example an engaging radio podcast and maintain an active voice I had to tailor my stories to my intended audience in consideration of the mediums and environments they would be using to consume my stories. It was through this process that I discovered the idea of evolving with technology that Nathalie adheres too, whereby I’ve come to understand that in today’s fast growing world steering away from old traditions doesn’t make you any less obedient or intelligent as a journalist but rather more up to date with audiences wants, forms of consumptions and their environments that are surrounded by modern technologies of today.
(Featured image by Taylah Borg)
