How to be a good all-media reporter in the era of media integration

Faced with the rise of new media and its market threat to traditional media, traditional media have to create a new mode of integration with new media in order to survive and develop together in the competition. As an inevitable trend of the development of the media industry, media convergence is manifested in the integration of traditional media and new media, as well as the integration of different media. A news group is dominated by some form of media, such as newspapers or television, and there are other types of media. With the help of digital technology and network technology, the whole media can realize the multimedia display and multi-directional linkage reporting of news, and provide the audience with various forms of information such as words, pictures, audio and video, so as to achieve the best reporting strength and communication effect. The arrival of the all-media era has profoundly changed the way news is produced and the way journalists work.

All-media has changed the traditional news production mode.

The concept of all-media (or integrated media) has not been defined in academic circles, and it is more manifested in the news practice operation of integrating media information, channels and functions. The deep integration of all-media news production has changed the traditional news production mode. In developed countries, all-media is not a new concept. Viacom, News Corporation and time warner Inc. are all media groups that integrate various media businesses. In particular, the American media group established the Tampa News Center in Tampa, Florida in 2000, which is a multimedia editorial department to experiment with "media convergence". Editors of newspapers, radio and television, and the Internet cooperate with each other and coordinate news gathering. Even the same reporter writes newspaper news, TV news and electronic instant news at the same time. The same information is packaged into products suitable for different media forms through different forms, displayed on various media platforms and disseminated through multiple channels.

Another level of all-media news is to use multimedia reports to complete a report. In 20 12, The New York Times launched an all-media report "Avalanche", which is a news report that perfectly integrates multimedia interactive technology. "Avalanche" is the abbreviation of the special report "Snowfall: Avalanche in Tunnel Creek" written by The New York Times journalist David Branch. The report vividly shows a thrilling catastrophe in the Cascade Mountains in Washington, describes the process of skier's death in an all-round way, and explains the scientific principle of avalanches. The reports of avalanches are well-made and varied. Presented in interactive pictures, interview videos, biographies of famous skiers and other ways. When visitors open the Snow Fall website of new york Times, they can see the 3D map of the big ski resort, the first-hand pictures of famous skiers, the history of ski slides and the video interviews of famous skiers. The report of Avalanche has achieved great success through innovative multimedia reporting methods, with 2.9 million visits and 3.5 million page views within six days after its release. John Branch, a journalist who wrote this topic, also won the 20 13 Pulitzer Prize for feature writing for his excellent report. After the success of Avalanche, at least when reporting natural disasters (and casualties), The New York Times used more new media technologies, and used a lot of pictures, interactive maps, audio and video on its digital platform, which made up for the shortage of newspapers.

"All media" includes not only newspapers, magazines, radio, television, audio and video, movies, publishing, Internet, telecommunications and satellite communication, but also all the senses that people receive information, such as sight, hearing, image and touch. In addition, according to the different needs of the audience, choose the most suitable media forms and channels, carry out in-depth integration, provide super-segmentation services, and achieve comprehensive coverage and the best communication effect. ①

Media integration puts forward new requirements for journalists' literacy.

The characteristics of integration and mutual assistance of multimedia information in interview, writing, expression, publishing, etc. also prompt news editors to change the thinking mode and operation mode of single media news production, and the identity description of all-media reporters appears in the media more and more frequently. All-media reporter is a popular new concept in foreign media circles, and there is no clear definition at present. According to the popular definition in the domestic media field, all-media reporters have many abilities, such as writing, photographing, recording, editing, using network skills, operating modern equipment and so on, and make comprehensive reports in the form of words, pictures, videos and audio. Communication channels include newspapers, television, radio, internet, mobile phones and other media. ②

In the news environment of media integration, journalists must have all-media quality that is more suitable for the needs of competition and development and more characteristic of the times on the basis of traditional news gathering and writing ability, professionalism and professional ethics.

First of all, we should have the concept and planning ability of multimedia integrated communication. All-media reporters should not only master all-media editing skills, but also have the concept and planning ability of media integration and communication. The core competence is the multimedia integrated communication planning of news events, including "content planning" and "media distribution". "Content planning" means that all-media reporters should be "organizers of news events reporting" and "planners of multimedia integrated communication", and they can find news clues, contact interviewees, contact relevant experts and master distribution channels, expand content dissemination, and realize the collection, management, processing and distribution of multimedia information. "Media distribution" means that all-media reporters should have the ability to judge the value of news content and choose media, publish and present news reports with appropriate media, so as to achieve the effect of collecting, processing and publishing on multiple platforms at one time, realize multiple value-added information resources, integrate resources and improve efficiency.

All media require news generation to change from a one-way linear gathering and writing process to a multi-interactive gathering, writing and publishing process. The news production of traditional media reporters is one-way and linear. Journalists complete the task of interviewing and writing, and hand over the manuscript to the editorial department. However, in the all-media environment, journalists are not only news producers, but also news publishers, disseminators and coordinators. As soon as news comes out, reporters will publish it on social platforms such as WeChat and Weibo, and communicate and coordinate with editors of radio, television, computer networks and mobile phones. In the era of media convergence, the audience has changed from passive recipients to active producers. Journalists should be good at getting feedback from the audience through computer networks, mobile phones and other channels, interacting with the audience and giving full play to the enthusiasm and creativity of the audience.

Second, we should master the knowledge and skills of various media. Different media have different technology and communication characteristics, and the expression of news is different, so even for the same news fact, the content, technique, structure and form of the report will be different. Therefore, on the basis of understanding the relevant knowledge and skills of different media, journalists should be able to distinguish which media can be used to express the content of a news fact, including background information and chart data, so as to write differentiated reports that meet the needs of different media forms and different audiences and generate news that suits different media and meets different audiences. For example, on the basis of completing the manuscript, journalists should strengthen the training of photography technology to make the report vivid, in-depth and illustrated; But also for television, radio and network knowledge. With the development of science and technology and the increasingly fierce news competition, all-media reporters need to master modern means of interviewing and publishing, constantly update relevant knowledge and skills, and learn to use computers, multifunctional telephones, multifunctional cameras and camcorders with ever-changing functions to collect and sort out information such as words, pictures, audio and video, so as to complete news suitable for different media.

Whether we can deeply understand the communication characteristics and knowledge of various media, master the new media technology and effectively use it in news interview writing is an important criterion to measure the quality of journalists in the new era.

Third, we should cultivate the ability to collect and write various media manuscripts. In the era of media integration, news reports are a comprehensive manifestation of words, pictures, videos and audio. Correspondingly, journalists should also become "all-round reporters" who can write for newspapers, shoot programs for TV and provide pictures for websites at the same time. Dr. stephen quinn, an associate professor at the School of Journalism, Deakin University, believes that "all-round journalists" can be divided into three levels: the first level is to be able to report emergencies with mobile phones; The second level is that a reporter can write for the website, provide videos and blog news, and write for the newspaper one day; The third level is to be able to write in-depth reports for newspapers and make documentaries for radio and television stations. "Ideally, a media group can have all three levels of journalists."

Cai Wen, a professor at Renmin University of China, once introduced the all-media work of a female TV reporter of an American media group. Take a case report she interviewed as an example. Her daily work arrangement is: write a column to the website at 6 am to introduce the case, then go to the court to interview the latest progress of the day, and send the latest report to the TV station by phone on 10 in the morning; Prepare an evening TV program from 2: 30 pm to 3: 00 pm and send it back, then go back to the court in the afternoon to interview the progress, usually ending at 7 pm; Finally, write a press release for the newspaper published the next day. ⑤ The news expressions of different media are different in perspective, emphasis and details. Therefore, in the face of the same news fact, all-media reporters should quickly judge the news value points suitable for different media and make manuscripts accordingly. For example, the implementation of CNN's all-media strategy relies on excellent journalists and news production teams. CNN reporters are often independent and versatile, and can undertake news gathering on multiple CNN platforms. They also have the ability of independent editing, independent auditing and independent broadcasting. They don't just report a specific program, but provide relevant reports for different channels and platforms of CNN. For example, sometimes an important news scene only sends one reporter, but it is supplemented by multiple photographers shooting from different angles; The vision and orientation of each column are different, and the treatment methods are different. In order to meet the different needs of various channels and columns, reporters often have to make a number of reports with different lengths and angles on the basis of in-depth interviews on the spot. Producers of each column choose materials for their respective channels from the "story menu" according to the needs of the audience, which greatly reduces the production cost of news programs. ⑥ For the same news subject, it is necessary to write several articles suitable for different media, and even to shoot and edit pictures and video news, covering multiple media in the reporting genre and media of the same news event, which is the reality and development direction that all-media reporters have to face.

All-media reporters still face difficulties.

All-media reporters are the requirements for journalists in the era of media integration, but there is no denying that all-media reporters have their own defects and problems.

First of all, all-media reporters have to write articles, take photos and do audio and video, which is too heavy. All-media reporters usually finish three or four manuscripts a day, including words, photos and videos, which is several times the workload of traditional journalists. In addition, the weight of all kinds of interview equipment they carry with them, including cameras, video cameras and voice recorders, often makes journalists physically and mentally exhausted. In the long run, journalists will be exhausted in their work, and the quality of news will be reduced because of the pursuit of "integrity" of news.

Secondly, all kinds of reports have their own characteristics and professional requirements. "Written reports require detailed materials to show the depth and logic of the content; Photographic reporting requires grasping the moment and expressing the conflict and sense of scene of the event; The video report is first of all a picture, and the narrative is direct, vivid, storytelling and colloquial; Network reporting requires fast, timely, massive and multimedia; Mobile phone reports should be mobile and personalized. " Subjectively speaking, a reporter's energy is always limited, and it is impossible for him to be professional enough in all fields. It is unrealistic to ask him to be proficient in information collection and writing of various types of media.

In the all-media era, it is easier for the public to change from a simple information receiver to an information disseminator and become a "national journalist". This reality puts forward higher professional requirements for media reporters, requiring professional journalists to have higher professional vision, professional judgment and professional skills. However, today's excessive pursuit of "comprehensiveness" often makes all-media reporters become "comprehensiveness" rather than "experts", and the news produced is superficial and lacks professionalism. Such news can easily be replaced, submerged and ignored in the huge information flow, and the value of journalist profession will no longer exist. Therefore, all-media reporters still face many problems that need to be solved.