Engaging with the New New Journalism: Survey Results of Educators

Mitzi Lewis, Midwestern State University, U.S.A.John Hanc, New York Institute of Technology, U.S.A.Scott Ramsey, Midwestern State University, U.S.A.

“Literary Journalism: Local, Regional, National, Global”The Ninth International Conference for

Literary Journalism Studies (IALJS-9)

Teaching the New NarrativeMay 2014 Panel

Teaching Literary Journalism in a Multi-Platform World: Survey Results of Educators

Mitzi Lewis, Midwestern State University, U.S.A.John Hanc, New York Institute of Technology, U.S.A.Scott Ramsey, Midwestern State University, U.S.A.

“Literary Journalism: Local, Regional, National, Global”The Ninth International Conference for

Literary Journalism Studies (IALJS-9)

Teaching the New NarrativeMay 2014 Panel

Organization Affiliation

• AAUW American Association of University Women• ACCM Advisers of Christian Collegiate Media• ACLA American Comparative Literature

Association• AEJMC Commission on Status of Women• AEJMC Cultural & Critical Studies• AEJMC Cultural and Critical Studies Division• AEJMC History Division• AEJMC Newspaper & Online News Division• AEJMC Religion and Media Interest Group• AEJMC Visual Communication Division• AJHA American Journalism Historians Association• AOJ Association of Opinion Journalists (formerly

NCEW National Conference of Editorial Writers)

• APSA American Political Science Association• ASJMC Association of Schools in Journalism and

Mass Communication• Aust Prof Writers Association• BAAHE Belgian Association of Anglicists in Higher

Education• BLASA Belgian Luxembourg American Studies

Association• Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology

Center • CCA Community College Association• CMA College Media Advisers• ECRA European Communication and Research

Association

• EPA Evangelical Press Association• IAMCR International Association for Media and

Communication Research• ICA International Communication Association• IRE Investigative Reporters and Editors• ISA• NAHJ National Association of Hispanic Journalists• NASW National Association of Social Workers?• NAWE National Association of Writers in Education • Newspaper Online Division• ONA Online News Association• Other AEJMC sections• Other emerging media groups

• PCA Popular Culture Association• RSAP Research Society for American Periodicals • SANEF South African National Editors' Forum• Some Norwegian organizations for reporters and

authors• SPJ Society of Professional Journalists• SXSW (South by Southwest) Interactive• TWUC Writer's Union of Canada

Countries represented

• Norway

• Poland

• Portugal

• “Several”

• South Africa

• United Kingdom

• United States

• Australia

• Belgium

• Brazil

• Canada

• China

• Finland

• Germany

Age in Years

Age in Yearsexcluding non-respondents

average

51.9

median

53.5

min. 20

max. 70

Years teaching

Student level taught

In what form do you have your students produce work (as class projects or assignments) in multi-platform journalism (and if you stick to one platform, please check just that one).

Select comments

“I incorporate audio, video and slideshows in my capstone course, but not in my longform course.”

“I require a multimedia of their choice of platform to accompany a print piece.”

“Most assignments are written for print, but one assignment is to be done using video and/or still shots with an audio track and narration.”

Select comments, cont’d.

“We use platforms like The Creativist to create long-form, digital and cinematic stories that are native to mobile and eReader environments. We also use programs like the InDesign to create some basic prototypes for interactive stories. We will be working with the Adobe Digital Publishing Studio as well.”

What platforms do you teach students to use to deliver

long-form narrative?

Select comments

“I'm involved in a program that teaches new forms, although my own teaching concentrates on words and still photos, with occasional forays into video.”

“I don't teach platforms, just how to write a long-form story.”

“I've also started using Cowbird.com for shorter narratives in class.”

Select comments

“How does not do "long-form narrative" 140 characters at a time on Twitter???”

“Not clear what you mean here since you can't really DELIVER long-form narrative on Facebook and Twitter. You can promote it on those social media channels and I encourage students to do that.”

What do these new platforms offer long-form

narrative?Increased Likelihood for PublicationNew platforms offer venues “for publication and dissemination of texts that would otherwise remain unknown”

Additional Publication Space“Unlimited space on the Internet, with the exception of the insipid Twitter”

Opportunity to Promote WorkThe capacity to “advertise long-form narratives at other sites”

Broader Audience“Broader audience, broader way of telling a story”

Do these new platforms change the stories we

tell? If yes, how?Enhancement“More intertextuality, via technological enablers”

Engagement“They throw up new juxtapositions of image and text, and digital reading has different ‘affordances’”

Dimension “The new platforms literally open up the world of potential stories”

Exposure“Provide opportunities to catch the attention of potential audiences who may not have otherwise been exposed to the story”

How do these new platforms change how we work with the long-form conceptual

essentials of character, setting, plot, theme, voice, and structure?

Essentials Remain Unchanged “New platforms do not change the above-mentioned essentials, as “[a] new platform is not a stage for narrative metamorphosis”

Challenges“They force students to think as multiplatform editors”

Improve Storytelling“Additional ways to develop and display these essentials”

How do these new platforms change how we work with the long-form conceptual

essentials of character, setting, plot, theme, voice, and structure? (cont’d)

Change the Form“With multimedia we can now emphasize capturing audio or video clips [that] highlight the most dramatic moments. This will change the form”

Persona“Characters, possibly including the writer/narrator, are literally seen, which may change the persona the writer chooses in the prose”

Expanded Possibilities“The platforms are like tools in a toolbox,” and the more tools one has to work with, the better the story will be

Are there any new conceptual essential(s) that these new platforms introduce? If yes,

please list.

Equality“More equality between writer and reader in terms of accessibility to sources”

Interaction“They allow interaction, very short but very quick bursts of information, meshing of e-media with writing, photography, basically classic magazine and news journalism”

Engagement“I find the opportunity for engagement to be a new concept, the idea that one can read, watch, hear about a topic and then also become engaged in it as a citizen or participant”

Are there any new conceptual essential(s) that these new platforms introduce? If yes,

please list. (cont’d)

Change“Interactive media is an untapped resource for long-form journalistic storytelling,” and is “useful for reaching younger online-fixated audiences”

Accessibility“Multiple points of entry”

ConsistencyNew platforms require and promote “consistency across media”

EditingNew platforms “force students to think as multiplatform editors” rather than traditional print media editors

How can these new platforms help to sustain the viability of long-form

narrative?Dissemination“Dissemination, at national and international levels”

Increased ReadershipYou “get readers who didn’t read these long stories to read them because they are promoted on social media and available in multiple formats (like on tablets)”

Appeal“I believe they will make it more appealing to certain audiences that might not select to read a long-form piece otherwise”

ProfitabilityBy “giving them space and cutting costs”

There are some who would argue that digital or

multi-platform journalism cannot by definition,

be literary journalism. Do you feel that new forms

of narrative journalism can be considered under

the rubric of literary journalism?

What’s so good about the emergence of new media platforms for literary

journalism?• Greater access to younger, more diverse

audiences

• Allows for new dimensions of story telling

• Presents new challenges, develops new skills for students

• Not only for the “good” writers: Teaching multiplatform enables students with other skills to learn about and participate in narrative journalism

Challenges

Increased demandsWriters “are now forced to be videographers, photographers, audio engineers, etc.”“Although the newshole is, theoretically, bottomless, the pressure is to keep it short and snappy”

Story selection“It may be that the new platforms privilege story topics that are more easily illustrated visually, so that important but complex issues that can’t be easily supported with images and video are overlooked”

Importance of editing is marginalized“‘Long’ is not a good in itself, it if it not also EDITED. This does not always hpapen on digital platforms”

Challenges

Profitability“I am not interested in blogging for free”

Distraction“Sometimes, when you’re into a narrative, the last thing you want is to be interrupted. It makes you lose focus.” “The difficulty is the jammed ‘airwaves’”

Keeping up“There is little training to allow faculty to make the leap.”

Questions? Comments? Suggestions?

Mitzi Lewismitzi.lewis@mwsu.edu

Twitter: @mitzilewis

John Hancjhanc@nyit.edu