It means reporters will be carrying cameras and shooting their own video and videographers will be out researching and reporting their own news stories.
Pejoratively the new job title is being nicknamed “one-man band” or “VJ,” short for video jockey.
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What has put KVOA’s newsroom on edge is the manner in which the station is making the changes. Several weeks ago at a station meeting, staffers were told there would be a reorganization of the newsroom. Besides the change to multi-media journalist, KVOA is changing its news assignment desk,
which is usually staffed by one person per shift, into an area for “content managers” and “content producers” who will be responsible for updating the station’s website.
KVOA’s newsroom staff consists of about 45 employees. Those directly involved in these changes say they are being told they can audition for the new job titles, which has left at least a few of them with the distinct implication that not all will make the cut. Beyond that, KVOA is advertising it has openings for multi-media journalists as well as content managers and producers.
KVOA’s news director Kathleen Choal didn’t respond to a request to talk about the changes.
The announcement rippled through other newsrooms. And, for good reason, by the end of next year every TV station and print media outlet in the country will be using multi-media journalists to some degree, says Jerry Gumbert, president and chief executive officer of Audience Research & Development (AR&D), a news consulting firm based in Fort Worth, Texas. He says his company has 150 media clients, from both traditional electronic and print media companies. KVOA is an AR&D client.
Gumbert says media companies will still put together what he calls “a polished finished product,” either a TV newscast or a newspaper but the new normal he says is that consumers are going online to get news and information. More specifically, there are three peaks during a typical day, from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. after people arrive at work, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. just before going out to lunch and 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. just before going home.
“As any producers of a product do, we have to follow the consumer. And the consumer has spoken as to how they want their news. They want it when they want it and where they want it and if we don’t do that, then somebody else will,” Gumbert said in an interview. “We aren’t blazing any new trails. We either have to follow the changing media consumer to get them what they want, or we’ll be obsolete.”
Gumbert says he doesn’t get involved with how stations make the change.
Many of the early TV station adoptees of the multi-media journalism concept did it as a cost-saving measure. Often they were not the strongest news stations to begin with. In some of those cases, it was a last-ditch effort and hasn’t proven successful.
Other pushback has come because it requires employees to change. “Nobody likes change, it’s uncomfortable,” Gumbert said, adding, “Nothing is easy to the unwilling. It’s really about desire and passion.”
Most young journalists coming out of universities, such as the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, are “multi-media journalists the day they step out of college,” Gumbert says. “They’re a very sophisticated breed that’s been used to operating their own websites to show and tell their own stories. There’s something to be said for a story teller having control of all facets of telling a story. It’s the new normal.”
The changes won’t come without their challenges. Gumbert says he tells managers “the next three to five years will either be the most exciting or the most frustrating time of your life in the media business, you get to decide what path.”
Contact David Hatfield at dhatfield@azbiz.com or (520) 295-4237. Inside Tucson Media appears weekly.
Comments
the one who knows wrote on Oct 5, 2009 5:12 PM:
Hurley owns part of the company that implements this idea -- at the company he also works at
it's a pure conflict of interest, but he still does it and pulls the wool over the face of people in Charleston SC (which is pretty easy to do)
Gumbert is a fool and an arrogant fool. "
Retired Guy wrote on Sep 30, 2009 9:34 AM:
Downtowner wrote on Sep 29, 2009 10:54 AM:
Oldman TV wrote on Sep 29, 2009 12:24 AM:
I happened to work for a #1 station that employed a number of reporters who often worked alone shooting and editing their own material and quite frankly told and photographed very, very good stories. As a news boss I've also had the chance to hire and work with a number of very talented folks who can both report and shoot quite well. This is not a new concept; the trick is balance---unfortunately most newsrooms have lost the balance between journalism and economics of the business. The total VJ concept is kind of like anything else in life, too much of one thing probably isn't good for you. "
Realist wrote on Sep 28, 2009 9:07 PM:
BF wrote on Sep 28, 2009 8:06 PM:
Gaijin wrote on Sep 28, 2009 5:33 PM:
Seriously.
Stop all the "journalists-know-how-to-use-a-camera!" handwringing.
Every television reporter is trained IN COLLEGE to report, shoot, and edit. Now, you don't wear all three hats throughout your whole career; typically you only do so at the beginning of your career.
But still.
Journalists have always been trained to do this.
You haven't unearthed anything new.
Sheesh. "
Dan Davis wrote on Sep 28, 2009 11:17 AM:
Dan Davis wrote on Sep 28, 2009 11:15 AM:
JD wrote on Sep 28, 2009 11:11 AM:
The downfall seems to be that they can crank out only so much product. A story still involved research, interviews, writing, shooting editing (among other things) whether it's done by one person or two. The advantage to one person doing it is they (if they know how to do both) can shoot with a great grasp of the story they intend to produce.
There are still some stories that simply need two people. They're far too fast paced for one person to get the shots, AND round up the interviews. "
JoeF wrote on Sep 28, 2009 10:52 AM:
Obviously the current people running the newsroom have no idea what they're doing and rely too much on out-of-town consultants who have no clue what works in a real newsroom.
KVOA should take KGUN's lead and get a new (old) ND. Where's Mick Jensen??? "
maxwell wrote on Sep 28, 2009 10:41 AM:
Reporter wrote on Sep 28, 2009 10:19 AM:
Robert R wrote on Sep 28, 2009 9:26 AM:
Bill Klein wrote on Sep 28, 2009 5:01 AM:
JG wrote on Sep 26, 2009 6:49 PM: