By Adam Wakefield

Words go beyond the printed form

News24 journalist Mpho Raborife, who has worked for the SA Press Association prior to its dissolution and Forbes magazine, among other roles, believes the single-medium journalist is an anachronism in the modern news industry.  

“I work for a wire/website platform, so covering a story for the web, I have to not only write an article but I must also take a pic and a video, if it’s possible, which will accompany my article. Even for print journalists who write straight for the newspaper, their articles still appear online once the newspaper has been published,” Raborife says.

Raborife lists diversification of skill level, adding value to a journalist’s contribution to the newsroom, and improved storytelling to readers through pictures and video as positives of working in multiple formats.

The more things change, the more they stay the same

Theresa Taylor works for TV news channel eNCA, and has previously worked for The Star newspaper, and has experience in both radio and online news. Like Raborife, Taylor does not think there is such a thing as a single-medium journalist, having acquired many strings on her bow along the way.

“At eNCA, Twitter is considered part of our job, as is writing for online on request. You can be disciplined in the same way you would be for any other type of failure in your final product if you don't tweet breaking news etc,” she says.

“I think smart journalists have a key medium where they excel, but then also work slightly outside the barriers, whether it be in another form of traditional media, or by using the numerous tools available to you online to create exciting stories. What I love about social media is you can reach an audience that doesn't subscribe to your brand, and wouldn't normally seek out your work.”

An unstoppable wave

Jacaranda FM’s Slindelo Masikane is also in agreement with her peers that the days of the single-medium journalist lie in the past.

“Journalists, whether they want to or not, are pressured to distribute news in various mediums other than the the one they specialise in through, for example, social media and information communications technology,” Masikane says.

From Masikane’s perspective, the positives of such an approach are being able to deliver the news to a larger audience quickly and being able to break news as it happens. A major test for multi-faceted journalists Masikane touch’s on, similar to Raborife, is the pressure of using multiple mediums the depth of reporting possible on a story.

Raborife goes further, identifying newsroom pressure from being the sole news provider across formats, and having less time to focus on core journalism skills as challenges for multi-medium wielding journalists.

The pros outweigh the cons

Taylor strikes a similar vein when it comes to the cons of multi-medium reporting, specifically being spread too thin and the old cliché of being a jack of all trades but a master of none.

However, while there are cons to working in multiple media formats, Taylor says they are vastly outweighed by the positives.

“Multiple reporters target different audiences with different mediums whether it's the radio reporter who also writes for print on that big story or the television reporter experimenting with new tools like virtual reality journalism,” she says.

“Working in multiple mediums allows you to choose a medium based on what actually suits the outlay of the story best, as opposed to manhandling the facts into the only format you know. Ultimately the principles of good storytelling and factual accuracy, which often divide citizen journalists from full-time reporters, rule whether you are on Twitter or behind a typewriter.”

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