We are at a turning point. The media landscape as we know it is undergoing a seismic change. The role of the journalist is changing. Affordable and connected technologies (blogs, YouTube, Flickr etc) means that everyone can make and broadcast content to hundreds, if not thousands, of like-minded people across the globe. Many believe this is the industry’s biggest challenge, others believe it is its biggest opportunity. One thing is for sure, it raises a lot of questions.
- How will the skills of traditional journalism fit into this shifting digital landscape?
- How will a story stand out from the crowd when everybody is a reporter?
- What will give professional comments and analysis more clout than an amateur blog?
- How will journalists adapt to stay ahead of the breaking wave?
- How will the media industry survive the changes?
- How can they harness the wisdom of the crowd?
We believe that Successful networked journalists will be open and interactive. They will understand how to facilitate and collaborate. That’s why we developed the Digital Media programme.
How was the course developed
The content of each of the modules was born out of a project called MELD hosted by the School of Journalism, Media and Communication in Preston in 2008. (http://www.meldonline.org) A group of editors, reporters, correspondents, photographers, film makers and designers met regularly with academic staff, many of whom still work as journalists and documentary producers, to work together to identify the key skills journalists will need in the future.
The group included world renowned US academic Howard Rhiengold, (author of Smart Mobs) Steve Marshal (Guerrilla News Network and Current TV) and senior editorial and creative staff from the BBC, Sky TV, The Times, The Independent, the Telegraph, Haymarket Media, Trinity Mirror and Johnston Press. The Broadcast Journalism Training Council (BJTC) and the Periodical Training Council (PTC) also took part in the project.
The Meld project was hosted in Sandbox, UCLan’s Centre for Creative and Digital Industries. (www.Sandbox.uclan.ac.uk) Sandbox is based on the 4th floor of our £16m Media Factory building which also houses 3 theatres, dance studios, 2 high definition TV studios and a host of video and audio editing suites. ‘Sandbox’, provided neutral turf where participants with occasionally conflicting commercial interests could put these on one side and collaborate to determine what the shape of the industry might be in 2020 and what skills journalists are most likely to require in order to work effectively in this new world.
The project was then developed to include expertise from games design and community experts, drawn from industry. We ran another series of sessions with industry at Sandbox and our Sandbopx facility at the BFI in London.
Importantly our industry panel continues to advise on the course development (as well as offer input in to the teaching and resources for the course). This allows us to keep the course as relevant to industry as we can to maximise the career development opportunities for our students.