Not too long ago, a newspaper reporter and photographer focused on what would appear in the next day’s newspaper.
Then the digital shift happened.
Now, before a story appears in the next day’s paper, a version may have already appeared online. Additionally, it could have been shared through social media; blogged about; or linked to from other websites. A slideshow of photos or a video may have been added to further tell the story. Readers don’t just read it, they react to it with reader comments. Sometimes those comments lead the reporter to follow up and include new information before the presses roll.
The digital shift is something that hasn’t just added work to a journalist’s day. It changes the work that needs to be done. It’s true in a lot of professions today.
A job that has changed the most at the Tulsa World is one that didn’t even exist too long ago. The job is called a multimedia producer. Right now, John Clanton is in the position and has turned in some amazing work. He blogs about his work - along with the rest of the photojournalism staff - at
tulsaworld.com/view.
Here is one of John's latest, giving you something you don't expect.
Before John took over, Adam Wisneski had the job. Adam was the first web intern at the Tulsa World. For him, the digital shift occurred right when he was graduating from the
Missouri School of Journalism.
“When I started in 2004, I was still shooting on film and developing in a darkroom,” he said during a phone interview from Chicago, where he now works as a videographer for the Obama re-election campaign. “When I graduated just three years later, that darkroom was filled with Macs and digital printers.”
Video had just started to come up in professor lectures before Adam grabbed his diploma. So, when he came to the World, he didn’t have much video work but he knew he was coming to a place that understood the future of digital. The World was one of the first metro newspapers in the country to stop shooting film and start using digital cameras. Adam grabbed the newsroom’s first advanced video camera and started turning in journalism never before seen at tulsaworld.com. He, along with the rest of the photojournalism staff, started to change what was expected out of a “newspaper” website.
Like this one telling the story of a soldier's last letter to his brother:
“Video journalism allows you to tell more kinds of stories,” said Adam, whose videos usually included a mix of black and white photography. “With still photographs, you can’t time travel. You have to shoot what is in front of you. You have to be there physically. With video, you can go back 50 years ago and you have more freedom to tell the story.”
That’s what Adam did with the video that accompanied
“Questions that Remain,” our online special project about the 1921 Tulsa race riot. This is how the digital shift gives the public more and different content to consume. Five years ago, a website about the race riot might be a series of links providing an archive. Now, video helps to begin to tell the story, thanks to a two-minute video. It works like a movie trailer, helping bring viewers into the site.
“The digital shift for me has been the shift from technology to content,” Adam said. “It used to be about taking a good photo and being able to develop film in a sink. Now, all the challenge is how unique your vision is. You have to be more of an artist.”
