You’ve heard it before, news is changing; from how we cover news to how people consume our stories-new technologies are changing journalism and in turn how we do our jobs.

Earlier this month I attended the SPJ Broadcast Reporters Institute at the Poynter Institute in Florida. Young television and multimedia reporters, producers and anchors across the country came together to learn new skills, new techniques and of course pick up some tricks along the way!

The changing world of journalism brings with it new responsibilities, some that may surprise you and some that may even confuse you.

Two reporters from the SPJ training shared what their responsibilities in the newsroom are; watch the videos below to find out more.

Young Video Journalists Share Their Stories

What is a multiplatform reporter?

Can you imagine an America with no newspaper-type journalism…a Washington, D.C. that goes unchecked for the most part? That’s a scary thought and it’s why we have to do something.

I am of the belief, and maybe it’s naive, that good journalism won’t die even if it’s traditional medium does. I think there are a large number of people out there who care about good journalism…they just don’t want to pay for it. That’s what happens when you can get something for free for a long time…no one wants to pay for the thing anymore.

Can you imagine city halls and county commissions across this land, from sea to shining sea, without local journalists inside holding politicians feet to the fire?

I don’t know what the answer is. I wish I did. But I do know that if we young journalists, from every facet and every walk of life, from every state and every region, put our heads together, we can figure this thing out.

This week’s Good Work Wednesday post is dedicated to April Dudash.

Dudash is currently working as the Pulliam/Kilgore Freedom of Information intern doing the bidding of SPJ Headquarters.

Her main focus is FOI issues, writing articles for the FOI edition of Quill magazine, spearheading efforts to revamp and update the FOI portion of the SPJ Web site. She also helps update the FOI FYI blog, the SPJ Works blog and around the office, she helps with communications, writing news releases and helping with 2010 Convention marketing, as well as updating the membership rosters.

“One of my favorite things about working here is getting to talk with SPJ members from around the country,” Dudash said.

She recently participated in the Ted Scripps Leadership Institute and got talk with student chapter presidents and recently Skyped with Richard Roth, who’s starting up an international student chapter in Qatar, to see how those efforts are going.

“I really like helping people with chapter programming and membership recruitment ideas,” she said. Dudash recently graduated from the University of Florida, and was chapter president for two years.

A map, Post-its and more than 20 journalists in a room … it seems that is all it takes to have a good laugh on a Sunday night!

And I have a feeling more laughs are to be had as the SPJ Reporter Institute at Poynter this week continues. I and other video/broadcast journalists from around the country are coming together for a week of training, discussion and networking, all surrounded by our love and passion for journalism.

I am looking forward to being here for many reasons: advice, new tricks of the trade, ethical debates, friendship, and of course a place to vent about the hardships young journalists sometimes face in newsrooms across the country.

While I don’t need to tell you this, news is changing, and as members of Generation J we have an opportunity to shape and mold the future of journalism in a way many other journalists will never have. We can lead the way in ethical reporting online; we can lead the way in accurate use of social media in the news; we can make a promise to cover the stories that matter!

I always get excited about an opportunity to learn new things; but, when the possibility of learning is combined with working with fellow journalists, there is a certain sense of hope, excitement and determination I feel.

I am excited to learn from others who have a strong passion for media in all of its current forms and I encourage you to join us in the conversation.

We have created a Twitter hashtag and will be uploading videos on the Generation J YouTube page as well. On Twitter just search #SPJRI to join in on the conversation, ask questions or just to see what all the fuss is about! We’re here until Wednesday, June 16.

Lynn Walsh ( Twitter: @lwalsh)  is an investigative video journalist for Texas Watchdog, a non-profit online journalism organization in Houston, Texas.  She is a graduate of Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism who has experience in television, online and print journalism.  Lynn began her career as a reporter for The Government Channel in Athens, Ohio, were she covered city and county issues for the citizens and students living in Athens County. Lynn also served thepalestra.net as a general assignment reporter focusing on anything from sporting events to the 2008 general election.

From the Cleveland SPJ newsletter:

Joe Toohey, a graduating senior majoring in communication and theatre arts, and minoring in political science, has been awarded John Carroll University’s “Meet the Press” Fellowship for 2010-11, the university announced Friday. Founded in memory of the late Tim Russert, who was a John Carroll graduate, the fellowship is a nine-month internship in the Washington, D.C. bureau of NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Toohey is from Mount Pleasant, Pa., outside of Pittsburgh, and has had an impressive collegiate career. He received the James Breslin Broadcasting Excellence Scholarship Award in 2009; he is a member of Lambda Pi Eta (the National Communications Honors Society); he has served as a volunteer with Shoes and Clothes for Kids as well as with the New Life Community; and he has been consistently on the John Carroll University Dean’s List since 2007.

Good work, Joe!

(If you’d like to submit an item for Good Work Wednesdays, email it to aiesha_little(at)yahoo(dot)com)

Last month, Gen J committee member Geoffrey Dobbins was featured in The Progressive for a profile he wrote on The Carolina Chocolate Drops, a trio of African-American folk musicians from North Carolina. “Returning the Banjo to Its Black Roots” cover the rise, fall, and rise of folk music from a cultural perspective. Good work, Geoffrey!

(If you’d like to submit an item for Good Work Wednesdays, email it to aiesha_little(at)yahoo(dot)com)

We live in an age where everyone expects journalists to be perfect. I don’t know why this is considered fair. Writers/reporters are human beings just like everyone else. We make mistakes, too, but there’s little room for them these days, not with the Gotcha Squad coming out of the woodwork to rip you a new one over every little flub. But some of us find solace in our mistakes. In 2008, Sports Illustrated writer Joe Posnanski wrote about his three greatest mistakes, all of which occurred during his rookie years.

Reading this made me think back on the kinds of mistakes I’ve made in my career. (Nothing too drastic but definitely cringe-worthy…at least to me.) Like Posnanski, mine came early on when I was still wet behind the ears and trying to figure out the business. There was no Internet so that made things a lot easier to deal with, but I also had editors who were patient with me—as long as my mistakes weren’t the result of sheer laziness, they took the time to teach me how not to make the same mistake in the future. What about you Gen Jers? Have any embarrassing stories you’d like to share?