The Guide to New Media

"In 1981, there were 60 million weekday newspaper readers. Now that statistic is less than 50 million. Essentially in 2 years--with the population growing--the amount of people reading newspapers will have declined substantially," said Smart Money magazine writer Russell Pearlman.

With print newspapers disappearing left and right, the future of journalism looks bleak. However, the news media industry hasn't been banished to the grave. Online journalism is the new paper version, and amateurs everywhere are getting their stories published. With a few simple steps, you too can join the ranks of online Mojos (mobile journalists) and deliver what people need to know.

New media has been around for a while, but has only recently taken off. The slump in the economy has driven people from paying for newspapers subscriptions, because they can just get the same information online--a majority of it for free. Pearlman said newspapers basically did it to themselves; in the mid 90s they [the New York Times] made the decision to give away their content free on the Internet, which forced everyone to give away their news content for free (save the Wall Street Journal), and the New York Times was stuck.

According to Pearlman, "the necessity of reading something in print is no longer there. Now you can get all that same information you would be getting in print, combined with video, in this online network."

With new innovations in media, speed has become more important than substance; anyone with an internet connection can hop on the bandwagon and report. With blogging and citizen journalism websites like Twitter, iReport and Tumblr popping up everywhere, the new media revolution is more fast paced than ever. This is the most critical time for students wanting to go into the news industry to relearn the basics of journalism.

"We're seeing such a breakdown in traditional journalism, if you were thinking about going into this business, by the time you get into college the places you may have thought you were going to go for jobs might not be hiring anymore," said University of Michigan professor Fara Warner.

However, in just three easy steps you can start to plan for a future in the volatile journalism industry.

Get the Right Equipment
"Students have to change their expectations on where they're going to get a job," said Warner. This involves a bit of research and, of course, new tools of the trade. Technological advancements are making equipment that was once only available to professional journalists more readily accessible to the average citizen.

According to Warner, the most important tool to have is the ability to write clearly and concisely. In regards to the web, "we now know that people only read about 800 words online before they give up, so knowing how to write well, source, research and interview is very important," said Warner. In addition, it is important to have the right electronic equipment to research and interview well.

One of the important tools Warner mentioned for the fast-paced news environment is an audio recorder. The device could even be an iPod, used in conjunction with new software available today. It does not have to be broadcast quality, but it should be able to capture audio well. A good video recorder is also highly recommended. The Flip, which runs around $150-$200, is a great device for capturing high quality video and uploading the content to the web within minutes. It is approximately the size of an iPod, and no heavier.

Warner states it's even better to have a device that will do both, and then some. "An audio recorder, a digital camera and a video camera, or one you can get that will do all three, is good to have. Many video recorders now have a still photo component. Also a computer with really good wireless or a hardwire broadband connection for compressing and easily uploading video is a plus to have," said Warner. After you have mastered these tools of the trade, it is essential to know where you can display your stories and material to gain an online presence and readership.

Understand the Basic Sites
The Internet includes an infinite amount of websites for the amateur online journalist. Indiana University alumni, Alex Bozich said there are different platforms that are pretty easy to start. Even though Bozich has had some experience with computers, he says it is not absolutely necessarily to have knowledge of computer programming in order to start projecting yourself and what you have to say onto the Internet.

Head designer of World Wide Apparel in New York, Jessica Schroeder agrees that you can still make a professional looking blog without knowing anything about setting up platform layouts. "I just put up a note on my personal Tumblr asking if anyone wanted to help me design my page, and so some guy friends helped me with the html coding. I don't think it's hard, it's just something my mind is wired to figure out," said Schroeder, who has a Tumblr, which is a platform for blogging, or online personal journaling.

She recommends the platform to those looking to make a career for themselves in online journalism. "You can get a following with Tumblr; it's a really good way to network. I've had a lot of cool things happen to me because of it," said Schroeder.

Other popular blogging platforms include Blogspot, Wordpress, Text Pattern and Moveable Type. Creator of the fashion blog FashionConciou$, Jasmin Howell said she chose a blog as a medium for her creativity because of the simplicity and convenience. "I can update posts whenever and wherever I like, and it has resulted in followers from Australia, the UK and the USA--which is really exciting," she said.

Twitter is another website for online writing, but instead of displaying lengthy journal entries, it is limited to 140 characters and is considered micro-blogging. According to Warner, iReport is part of the CNN network, and is a place where college-aged students can upload their work. Pearlman suggests a site called Gorkana, which is an aggregator of online journalism job openings.

Facebook and MySpace are both social networking platforms that are less about online journaling and more about staying in touch with people instantaneously. In regards to the relationship of blogs, Warner suggests using multiple platforms in conjunction with each other to increase traffic to your site. 

In addition to using Twitter and Facebook to direct people to your site, she also suggests, "tagging your site with words that are being used often by people searching, in order to increase their linking to your website." Schroeder suggests the tactic of dropping your webpage as a link in as many places as you can, but not in a spammy way. This will increase traffic to your site, and help you to establish an online audience, which is extremely important.

Grow an Online Presence
Now that you have been exposed to the necessary tools and platforms are to create your own website, you must perpetuate your online image by growing a readership online. The concept of starting a page that hundreds of people will log onto daily to read what you have to say may seem a little intimidating at first, but as the young generation, we have an advantage over everyone else. In Pearlman's opinion, some of the best blogs were started by people who were 22 or 23, or younger. Facebook was started by an 18 year old at Harvard.

According to Pearlman, "one of the advantages that young people have is that they don't have any baggage and are willing to try different things. They know their age and demographic better than anyone else, and they can exploit that. There are niches out there and that is the advantage your age group is so used to-that's your first instinct, to go online and look for information a certain niche blog offers."

Having a group of readers that consistently keep coming back to your page is imperative to making your presence known on the web. The key to this is being true to yourself. "Just be unique, have a point of view, and stick to a small range of topics. I think that's how you go from being just on the web to being popular. The people who are going to have a lot of readers are the people who are concise, topic driven and timely. Niche blogs are the way to go," said Schroeder.

Whatever platform you choose, the most important thing is to be yourself through what you post online, regardless of if it is a personal blog or public news story. Make sure to do research and report accurately when writing a news story, and to post original content in your blogs. Getting started can be tough, but it is important to remember to be persistent and unique. According to Bozich, quality is more important than quantity when it comes to blogs, and keeping content to what you think will interest your audience is a must. And even if you don't grow a large online following right away, it is important to stick with posting and become consistent-because eventually people might take an interest to what you have to say.

Howell says, "When people come across my blog I receive really positive feedback, which is great, but there are so many different fashion blogs, designers, writers, etc in the field that it will take time for my name to get out there. But I'm really excited to be working on something I am really passionate about."