Published: January 8, 2006
Our world of journalism, as we know it, is changing. Rapidly.
Seemingly overnight, Gannett, parent company of the Pensacola News Journal, has moved to a 24/7 Information Center concept, blurring the division between print and online news. The idea is to move information faster to consumers and in different mediums to satisfy new technology like laptops, cell phones and PDAs.
At The Corsair, we have been dabbling in new media for a couple of years. We have added photo galleries, multimedia stories, audio, video and podcasts to eCorsair.com.
But now, those nice-to-know skills have become need-to-know-to-get-a-job skills. Recent job listings for Santa Rosa County reporter positions at the News Journal list web reporting and multimedia skills among the qualifications.
But the bigger buzz in the industry is a move to provide more ways to connect with readers. Letters to the editor have become a relic with the advent of comment sections and discussion boards online.
Citizen journalists offer more coverage and lend expertise to community issues. Bloggers add new ways for readers to join in the dialogue. Its community conversation and it opens a whole new world to us.
We have made it our mission this semester to provide more opportunities for our campus community to become involved. Is there a topic you are passionate about – sports, fashion, politics, cooking, family life? Become one of our bloggers. Have you always wanted to be an anchor or reporter on a newscast? Here’s your chance. Want to learn podcasting or multimedia storytelling? We can train you.
Or just log on to eCorsair.com and tell us what you think about a story you read. We want to hear from you. Call us at 484-1458 or email us at corsair@pjc.edu to discuss the opportunities.