The brave new world of multimedia journalism

Justin McCurry, Japan correspondent of The Guardian newspaper, a pioneer in online journalism, recently attended a training course at the newspaper’s head office in London designed to expand his multimedia competencies. In this email interview, IIJNM students asked McCurry about his personal experiences working as a multimedia journalist and how sees the future of this new field.

Justin McCurry: Please allow me to begin by thanking Mark for inviting me to be involved in this project and you for asking such fantastic questions. It has given me the opportunity to think seriously about where foreign correspondence is heading, and, on a more personal level, whether I have made all the changes necessary to thrive as a representative of what many would consider “old media.” If you have any follow-up questions please do not hesitate to ask. I wish you all the best with your studies and your future careers in journalism.

Paul Richard Dharmaraj: Does the increased presence of convergent/multimedia journalism globally signal the imminent end of print journalism?

I think rumours of print journalism’s death have been exaggerated. There is little doubt that print is in decline, but I don’t think the end will be in sight for some time. Much will depend on whether news organizations devise a model that enables them to make money from their online operations. So far no one—not even Rupert Murdoch—has offered a convincing answer to that question. There will always be a small, but loyal print readership—the question is whether newspapers will always be in a financial position to indulge the media “Luddites.” Then again, the editor of The Guardian, Alan Rusbridger, is on record as saying that the paper’s current printing presses—renewed in 2006 to accommodate the new Berliner format—were the last we will invest in. So, yes, new media and multimedia do spell the demise of print, although it is probably overdramatizing the situation to say the end is imminent. I expect any significant investment from newspapers such as The Guardian to go into online journalism, though—not print.

Deepa Ranganathan:  How do you see the future of multimedia?
Mattia Michielan: Do you find that writing for the Internet has changed the style in which journalists write for print?
Abhilasha Panda: Is multimedia empowering?  Is it debilitating in any way?

Reading back through my answers I think it’s best if I take these three questions together. Thanks. I can only see multimedia growing and becoming more sophisticated as newspapers and other media organizations match their previous financial commitment to old-fashioned reporters and editors with investment in a new generation of filmmakers, broadcasters, data specialists, designers and bloggers. Some British newspapers have pulled back a little from the initial multimedia onslaught—The Daily Telegraph is one example, and The Independent has yet to embrace it in any meaningful way at all—but they will all have to bow to the inevitable eventually. Even casual consumers of multimedia know they can watch high-quality video online and will soon wonder why major media groups are not matching the content being put out by exclusively web-based operations, bloggers, etc.

If I can offer a little personal perspective—five years ago I was working to a single, daily deadline. My news stories from Tokyo would appear online at midnight U.K. time, but only after they had rolled off the presses back in London. Looking back, it was a crazy—lazy—way of presenting news to a readership spread across several time zones, all with different areas of interest.

Fast-forward six years and my job as a foreign correspondent has been transformed. I still write old-fashioned news and features, but am expected to supplement those with audio (I have been podcasting for a few years now), blog entries, digital photography and, more recently, video. Thankfully, The Guardian has a great team of editors and producers to knock my raw material into shape, but I have had to learn a lot of new technical skills in a short period of time. I’ve grasped the opportunity with both hands, but there are times when I wish I could simply focus on writing an insightful article, without having to worry about getting decent photographs or video footage. And it means my rucksack now weighs several times more now than it once did—it certainly hasn’t done my lower back any good!

I’m often surprised by how many of my colleagues in Tokyo have failed, or in a few cases refused, to adapt. They are excellent writers—this is not a criticism of them, more of the people they work for—but I know several who believe the drive towards multimedia is an excuse for media organizations to squeeze more out of their correspondents for the same money (or less, if the exchange rate works against you). I agree with them up to a point. It does mean we are busier, and answerable to the 24/7 cycle of demands for copy and other material, but I think it’s shortsighted to believe that you can keep soldiering on as a “print” journalist and still expect to be employable in a few years’ time.

DR: What is the greatest challenge a multimedia journalist faces in the fiercely competitive media world?

There is intense pressure on “traditional” journalists who are new to multimedia to upgrade their skills (see above). Those who cling to the belief that all they need to do is produce well-written articles will be squeezed out of the market by multitaskers who can produce audio, video and photography—writers who are as comfortable tweeting and blogging as they are penning a 400-word news story. The time and money newspapers now invest in their online presence means journalists who once filed to regular, daily deadlines now find themselves competing to get copy posted on to their respective websites in double-quick time. We can’t compete with the wire services, but we can race to beat our rivals by being the first to post on our respective websites. That can make for long, frustrating days (or, in my case, evenings) of updating with fresh quotes and information and adding “value” to a story to reflect our newspaper’s editorial direction. That creates an additional challenge: committing the time and resources to pursuing more original, complex, and occasionally investigative, pieces that make individual correspondents and their newspapers really worth reading. After all, how on earth can we expect to convince readers to accept pay walls, for example, when more and more space is taken up by snap news and analysis, and less by of the kind of journalism that requires real legwork and a knowledge of one’s respective beat? This is a subject Nick Davies discusses at length in Flat Earth News, a book I’d recommend to those of you who haven’t already read it.

Tejaswini Pagadala: What is the essential aspect that has to be kept in mind while writing for a multimedia audience? In other words, how do you differentiate writing for print from writing for multimedia?

Writing stories that are published online and in the paper presents no real problem. The challenge arises when you begin to delve into blogs and other multimedia. How, for example, do you distinguish your blogging “voice” from the one you use in print? Is it possible to be less rigid in your use of language and at the same time not come across as overly chatty, or just plain stupid? These are questions I am not satisfied I have answered yet. As a rule, I keep it short and simple for blogs, and link to as many sites as possible to avoid subjecting readers to an overly long entry that many won’t read to the end. And always leave readers thinking about their own opinions on any given subject. This doesn’t have to be as crass as ending every blog with: “So, what do you think?”—it is enough to present the issue in a way that’s conducive to public debate. After all, that’s part of the purpose of a blog. There’s nothing more disheartening to see that you’ve failed to ignite the forces of contrarianism. Finding even one poster who agrees with you is a plus.

I have also had to learn how to write for audio and video. I am far from mastering it, but again I try to bear in mind the KISS approach: keep it short and simple. Avoid unnecessary, flowery language and let the pictures, or sounds, illustrate the story instead. Again, it takes time to develop a voice and tone with which you are comfortable and, as is the case with most newly acquired skills, the key lies in practicing and being unafraid to make mistakes. I cringe when I watch my first video or listen to my early podcasts, but it’s all part of the learning process, just as I am not exactly overcome with professional pride when I reread my first newspaper articles.

Tendar Tsering:  How did it feel to be “back in the classroom”?

Humbling. The first thing my instructor did was to take me through the three videos I had already submitted and point out every mistake. That took quite some time, believe me! And he was right to do that. Once I had been convinced to leave what I thought I knew about video at the entrance of the Guardian HQ and accepted that, while creativity is to be encouraged, there are in fact certain rules to observe, it became much easier. The real breakthrough came when I was pushed out of the studio door with what I had learned, video camera in hand, and told to go out and shoot. I made plenty of mistakes, of course—from framing interviewees incorrectly to forgetting to switch on the external mic (!)—but came away after five days with a couple of decent experimental films and a great deal more confidence under my belt.

TT: What’s the most noticeable development in multimedia and new media compared with when you were a student?

I was never a student of journalism—some unkind commentators might suggest that is obvious from my writing!—but, in any case, the biggest changes have come in the last five years: the shift from print to online; the emergence of multimedia; the ongoing quest to monetize online content; and the rise of citizen journalism, blogs and other nontraditional players in cyberspace. It’s a time of great flux and uncertainty, but also of great excitement. I am convinced of only one thing at this point: that there is room for all types of journalism. New media deserves to be taken seriously; “old” media is adapting and should not be dismissed out of hand. Contrary to what you may hear from the doomsayers, this is a great time to be a journalist.

TT: How do you see the future of multimedia and new media in developing countries five years from now?

I think developing countries have had a raw deal in terms of traditional coverage. They have tended to attract the attention of the mainstream media only when there is a crisis, disaster, coup, etc. to report on. What I hope will happen is that the spread of online journalism, and the accessibility to multimedia tools among journalists and citizen journalists in parts of the world that were once ignored or neglected, will change the way the developing world is reported on. That is already happening with the emergence of blogs, networks such as Al-Jazeera, and better media expertise among NGOs and other advocacy groups. The traditional, “Western” media has a role to play in fostering that development, perhaps in terms of finance and coaching, while resisting the temptation to set an agenda or engage in editorial preaching. In short, coverage of the developing world has been one-dimensional for far too long; multimedia can make it more multifaceted and better reflect the lives of the vast majority of the world’s population.

Deepti Venugopal Chemmari: What differentiates The Guardian’s multimedia content from that offered by other news sites?

I don’t really have the time to look properly at what the competition is up to, but judging from what I have seen, I like to think that The Guardian offers high-quality video and audio, blogs and digital photography that doesn’t take an age to locate online. In fact, I’ve noticed several times in the last few days that video content has appeared at the top of The Guardian’s front page. The other main difference is connected to the paper’s aim to become the world’s leading liberal voice (I don’t mean to sound “worthy” here) and to reflect our focus on the developing world, human rights and the environment. That said, we are not so rarefied as to deny that video footage—whether original or sourced—of sports and celebrities is a big crowd puller.

DVC: How does The Guardian get the best out of its journalists so it can give its readers of the print and online versions the best value?

I’d say we take a two-stage approach. The first task is to get the basics of a breaking story up on the website as quickly as possible, thereby taking advantage of the immediacy online journalism offers. The next is to give a more considered appraisal of a specific event: why it happened, who is to blame, what the stakes are, what the future holds. This can be done online, of course, but it’s this kind of “value-added” content that also makes it into print the following morning—the meat on the bones, embellished with analysis, that someone might read on the way to work having already learned of the basics several hours earlier via online-based breaking news. Online also offers scope for additional content that deadwood journalism will never be able to provide: near real-time video and audio, and interviews with correspondents, etc.

MM:  I find email an exceptionally useful tool to get information from sources, especially when I’m interviewing someone in a different part of the world. What medium do you prefer to use to do interviews?

Yes, if it is absolutely impossible to talk directly over the phone or via Skype, I use email and occasionally Facebook messages. I’ve found recently that I make more initial approaches for spur-of-the-moment interviews using direct messages on Twitter. In my experience people tend to pay more attention to their Twitter account than they do their email!

MM: In class we have discussed the ethical problems posed by journalists having a personal blog. Do you think journalists can be free to write personal things in their own blog? Do you have one?

I don’t have a personal blog but do post blog entries to various sections of The Guardian website. Attitudes towards injecting blogs with personal opinions while writing, say, for a national newspaper differ from one country to the next. Given that U.K. newspapers tend to wear their hearts on their sleeves politically, it is tolerated, even encouraged, there. As for matters of a more private nature, we are all adults and have to weigh up the pros and cons of sharing that kind of information online…and live with the consequences. There is a difference between a reporter writing about his struggle with, say, depression or drug addiction, and one who, after a few too many drinks on a Friday evening, treats his readers to his undiluted opinions on his boss or next-door neighbour.

MM: Have you ever used your mobile phone to record an interview? Do you think the quality is good enough?

I usually use an Edirol R-09 Wave-MP3 voice recorder, which is easy to operate and produces audio good enough to work into podcasts or video narration. Most of the time I just use it to record interviews, though. I have never used my mobile phone, but that’s probably because I bought an iPhone only two days ago, making me possibly the last foreign correspondent in Tokyo to acquire one. If all you are looking for is a decent recording of an interview, then mobile phones are fine. But if you want to use audio segments for a podcast or video, then I would recommend buying a decent DVR. I’m not on a commission (promise), but the Edirol (by Roland) has never let me down. I paid about ¥40,000 for the recorder and a few thousand yen each for a clip mic, stand and handheld mic. It’s a little steep—and there are alternatives of similar quality available for less—but it was worth the investment.

Aritra Sarkel: How important are podcasts as a marketing tool in the business field?

I’m entering unfamiliar territory here, but I would say that the corporate world (of which newspapers are a part) would be incredibly shortsighted to ignore the possibilities offered by podcasts and other multimedia. But it remains to be seen whether firms, regardless of the sector in which they operate, have the foresight to invest in multimedia at a time when many are striving to reduce costs. The clever ones will invest…and reap the rewards later on.

AP: Do you feel multimedia journalism helps you tell stories better than print stories?

In a word, no. There are certain “slice of life” stories that are best told via multimedia: something visually stunning without an obvious news angle, such as a rowdy, colourful festival. In most cases, though, I’ve found that multimedia works best as a supplement to a print story, offering a fresh perspective on the main story and filling in some of the gaps left by the written word. One recent example: I wrote about government attempts to encourage Japan’s large and growing population of elderly people to take more exercise. The article presented some vital stats, quotes and an overview of Japan’s demographic issues, while the accompanying video was filmed at a children’s playground that had been converted into a sports and exercise area for senior citizens. It was a bit of fun, but with a serious message about the ageing population and shrinking workforce. And I could only have achieved that through video.

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