Does the Web count?

There still exists, despite furvent efforts to oppose it, a theory in some small parts of the world that journalism on the Web isn’t journalism. The propogists of this idea use guilt by association to say that because the Internet can be used for a myriad of less than professional things, it somehow dillutes journalism. Plus their dad did it with paper, and his father before him, and his before that.

This idea is false. Journalism is storytelling, not the transcription of events on paper. Good journalists should be able to tell a story with whatever medium is presented to them.

The Web, as should now be obvious to all, is the evolutionary next step in the way we communicate. Over the next 30 years, Gannett Publishing believes the younger generation will wipe out newspapers altogether. They further believe that mobile devices, like iPhones and Blackberries, will be where the younger generation gets their information.

SCAD’s news organizations, District, Connector, SCAD Radio and SCAD-Atlanta Radio have taken this idea to heart. District and Connector both publish exclusively on the Web, and are training their respective staff to produce content with audio, video, and the written word. SCAD has inadvertently created the journalism school of the future, by requiring their writing students to take computer art classes. Knowledge of Final Cut, Flash, Photoshop, and Illustrator will be among the basic skill set required of anyone entering the field of journalism.

All of the new members of the SCAD SCJ Chapter have received this type of training, as will all future members.