Local Newspapers Turn to Multimedia Journalism
Online Internet Advertising Becoming More Valuable for Editors
Oct 27, 2009
With the nationwide decline in sales of local newspapers and hundreds of journalist jobs being evaporated by the recession around the UK, many have questioned what lies in the future for local newspapers; if anything at all.
As a new decade approaches, an ever-growing amount of both consumers and advertisers are moving towards online journalism instead.
More and more people are becoming attracted to the ease, speed and lack of expense involved in consuming local news online and as such, editors have been forced to put more effort into the development of their websites in order to compete for our attention.
Some newspapers have already fully embraced this shift into multimedia journalism and have packed their website with podcasts, video content, web chats and up-to-the-minute updates on breaking news.
Those who may not have the staff or the resources to do so are falling behind.
Growing Importance of Online Internet Advertising Revenue
A decent website not only helps convince viewers to buy the newspaper but provides a useful extra platform for advertising revenue.
The number of companies choosing to market themselves online has grown fantastically over the past few years.
Instead of placing ads in the newspaper, more and more businesses are opting for online exposure, which has made internet traffic more important than ever to editors.
Because of this, more and more are desperate to hire journalists with the skills to improve their website and draw in new visitors by providing exciting multimedia content.
Unfortunately, many are in no position to do so having had to lay off existing members of their editorial team in order to fight the recession.
High Demand for Multimedia Journalism Skills
Although a number of graduate journalists are now being trained in all platforms of journalism, rather than just television, radio or print, many are struggling to get their foot in the door because of the economic climate.
Any editor brave to enough to advertise a vacancy is likely to be inundated with hundreds of applications, both from the latest wave of graduates and the more experienced recession-hit journalists who have been made redundant.
Conversely, student journalists are likely to need more than their NCTJ exams and a few weeks work experience to stand out in the current environment.
Video and web skills have become far more desirable attributes in recent years and may one day become essential to forge a career in print journalism.
This trend may be great news for trainees who have recently graduated from a multimedia journalism course but it is extremely worrying for the old hacks with no web or broadcast skills.
It could soon prove very difficult for these writers to back into print journalism should they be the next victims of the industry’s mass redundancies.
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