Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Second week, first online class.

No, the class, CNJ 442, wasn't taken online. It was about journalism in cyberspace. We sat in real chairs in front of an actual teacher who will teach from a paper-made book.

Sounds like something doesn't fit, right? How are we learning about a medium based almost entirely on monitors, CPUs and loads of other digital stuff but using the ancient tools of paper and pens?

Simple. Core journalistic tenants haven't changed just the package in which news is now delivered to readers, viewers, listeners and/or users. News judgment. Speed. Accuracy. Fairness. They all still matter, probably even more so now.

But as journalists in the 21st century we need to add html, content management systems and just about digital everything--photos, video and sound--to our arsenal. At least, that's what Prof. Levinson, our textbook and about a gazillion other media watchers say.

So, for the next four months, I'll be one of those media watchers. Well, an online media watcher at least. That is, after all, why I made a campus comeback and returned to college.

1 comment:

Suzanne Levinson said...

I had second thoughts about using a book at all, but I for one still need a go-to reference that somehow cements the virtual in the real. Old-fashioned, perhaps.

You might consider switching to black font on white background, as it's easier to read (though not as cool.)