This is Journalism. For now.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. That phrase has always been one of my favorites.
As the Saturday morning plenary led into the first round of panels at the “What is Journalism?” conference, that phrase kept repeating in my mind.
The most adaptive, forward-thinking journalists have always looked toward the future of the industry, and successfully adapted to the changing landscape of tools and resources such as the telegraph, the radio, the television. Those who remained reluctant to bend to the ever-changing evolution of technology were left behind, destined to fade into obsolescence.
The overarching statement of the morning was that in order to avoid the fading, embrace the adapting.
We owe it to our audience to stay progressive in our actions, our ethics and our innovations. To fall behind, or to linger in a time that leaves us removed from the advancement of the people whom we claim to serve, is not only irresponsible, but also perfectly hypocritical.
As new tools are created, they lend themselves to be used by absolutely anybody. So it’s up to us to use them in the ways that distinguish ourselves from absolutely anybody.
Citizen journalists are springing up everywhere, and in some cases they’re skewing the definition of what actually makes a journalist, which is no good for a number of obvious reasons.
I don’t know about you, but I haven’t spent the past four years of my life accruing $40,000 in student loan debt just so I could compete against some blogger with zero journalistic training who Snapchats stories and calls it photojournalism, or posts grammatically atrocious, subjective columns on Medium and calls it reporting.
William T. Stead had an ambitious vision for journalists and journalism after he wrote his revolutionary series “The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon” in 1886. He saw journalists as the future gatekeepers of society, able to dictate the directions of pop culture, politics and society.
The majority didn’t agree with him at the time, but, hey, look. Turns out he was kind of right. Here we are in the 21st century where journalists can provide the public with information that it can use to dethrone governors and presidents, make or break the success of an entire market and either give rise or bring shame to even the most seemingly untouchable celebrities.
Even the more recent evolution of the term “celebrity” is owed to journalists. Though, that might not be our greatest triumph … moving on.
The point is, with great power comes great responsibility. It is our duty as journalists to keep with the times.
An example of that is right here. What you’re reading, or, more specifically, where you’re reading it.
Our SPJ chapter embraced, learned and is using the relatively new blogging platform Medium to cover this conference. We’ve been using Snapchat, Twitter and Facebook to keep UO students up to speed with all the goings on, and we have also been able to communicate in real time with other media professionals in attendance.
We’re interviewing and talking with professional journalists about journalism.
It’s quite meta.
Moreover, it’s working. We’re providing news, inspiring conversations and telling personal stories. Quite possibly, we’re answering the big question we’ve all come here asking.
What is journalism?
This, my friends. This is journalism … at least for now.
