They say journalism is dead, but when Neil McIntosh entered our newsroom, things looked quite different. A professional and successful online journalist, Neil painted a different picture. Yes, things are going to be hard for next two years, yes there are going to be jobs lost, but journalism is still and will remain a major part of our society.
Responding to critics saying that print journalism will be over within the next decade, McIntosh claims that the future lays in online. Which made me glad I took this online course. But when you think about it, we all started blogging longer than we even enrolled in journalism. Myspace, Facebook, emails, even letters, these are all the diaries that prepared us for this course.
The good thing about internet is the infinite audience and freedom involving everyone to participate. Presenting yourself in the best light possible, sharing ideas, creating debate, criticize and getting criticized, taking actions, supporting causes, being part of a virtual community. All these actions that create a virtual and global public sphere and reach a maximum of people.
In this context, no wonder the future of journalists relies on the internet. Internet is to television what television was to print. Expanding an audience, reaching people that don't have access to a traditional form of critical media, these are the goals of online journalism. After meeting and interviewing Neil McIntosh for about an hour, the guy who participated in the creation of one of the most successful newspaper online, The Guardian, I feel relief.
Everyone was wrong , and we were right. Not only journalism isn't a dead nor a difficult profession, if one gives him or herself the tools to succeed, but it is an indispensable, reliable and powerful part of our lives, which I'll be happy to contribute too.
Image courtesy to Photobucket and the Online Project blog.
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