How common is multimedia journalism in the media I consume?
I am a student in his early-twenties, I live, breathe and eat electricity. What’s a newspaper? Newspapers are those dry magazines that used to be delivered daily so my parents could read their horoscopes and do the crosswords. They did, and still do, provide a recount of what happened the day before. If something happened on the 20th of May you could read about it on the 21st of May. Without an exceptional reason I would never read a newspaper. I would absolutely never pay for a newspaper, even with an exceptional reason.
How about television? Kids these days love television, right? When I was a little fat kid I had the television guide memorised. The television guide was actually in the newspaper, I’m not sure if it still is. The cartoons finished at 5.30pm on Channel 2, and then I would switch to the Channel 10 news to fill the void before The Simpsons started. But it isn’t the 90s anymore, why would I watch television? Everyone and his dog are trying to sell something to me and my dog. I live in the future, I’m not going to wait around until 5.30pm to find out something that happened at 4pm, why would I want to be an hour and a half behind the latest stories as well as sit through 10 minutes of advertisements?
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| I would subscribe to the Daily Bugle |
I’m an iBoy. If something happens in Bulgaria I know about it instantly. As people we are given the gift of Government-level surveillance. The Australian Government wants to censor information; they don’t want a particular story getting out to the citizens? Have fun with that, because I read it on Reddit 3 hours ago. Multimedia journalism isn’t just widespread in the media I consume; the media I consume IS multimedia journalism. Traditional journalists get the same raw information that I get, I’m not special; I am one of billions.
Can multimedia journalism be structured in a linear fashion using multiple elements? It can, but why would it limit itself? If you read a multimedia story you are given the privilege to find out opposing information and judge it for yourself, you can watch video evidence of the story, you can see hundreds of pictures; each speaking a thousand words. A linear story? You would have to skip every hyperlink, not follow videos to find similar information, and not look up related articles. There are no doubt many linear journalistic stories on the Internet, but how is that special? It isn’t. It is an underuse of the technologies available. If people wanted linear storytelling then go watch the television or go read a newspaper.
