By Olivia Lewis, Hampton University
HAMPTON, Va. – In every journalist’s job description should be the word, versatile. A constantly changing environment that always needs new ideas to stay relevant, the media has to be able to adapt to new methods to reach its audience.
Hampton University’s Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications hosted APSE’s Day of Diversity on Nov. 14. The theme: Life Without a Newspaper. Today’s instant gratification generation, doesn’t need a story tomorrow on who won yesterday’s Yankees game, because they’re getting updates and play-by-play two seconds after it happens.
Nick Mathews, sports editor of the Houston Chronicle, led the panel discussion with four other editors. APSE president Gerry Ahern, who is the director of news content at USA Today, Mary Byrne, who is sports managing editor at USA Today, Robert Klemko, an NFL writer for USA Today, and Andi Petrini, sports editor of the Daily Press in Newport News, Va., all discussed how they had to make the transition from being a “newspaper person” to a multimedia journalist. They also told students, they expect them to be able to do the same.
“The only limit online right now, is the reader,” said Mathews. Though reading a tangible newspaper is no longer first on the to-do list, advancements in technology have allowed journalists to reach people in far more ways than ever before. Even as the seminar went on, Knoxville News Sentinel sports editor Phil Kaplan, host of the event, went back and forth on a projector screen from different web pages to the #APSEHU Twitter feed students shared.
“It doesn't matter what the product is. If it's an iPad, iPhone, iPod or any kind of social media; no matter what the product. If you have good quality journalism that you can't get anywhere else, then you will always have a product,” said Mathews.
“We’re breaking the news by tweeting,” said CBS Interactive assistsant managing editor Tim Stephens, during his talk to students with Baltimore Sun sports editor Ron Fritz about competing for jobs in the industry.
“#APSEHU in Scripps Howard learning about sports journalism,” tweeted Brandon Dorsey, a student attending the event.
The single tweet gave his 764 followers reliable information on an event-the same thing a story in the morning paper does.
“It’s crazy how much journalism has changed in just the two years I’ve been at Hampton. Everything has gone into the digital age where I can find out any kind of information I need with the click of a button on my phone,” said Dorsey.
Although journalism has changed into the digital age, the color of the newsroom has not. While most are still predominately white, APSE’s Day of Diversity is to branch out to minorities to give them more opportunities in newsrooms.
“The better our field would be ideally, is a newspaper operation that represents your community. And a lot of them don’t represent their community,” said Mathews. “There just aren’t enough good quality minority journalists here so we’re trying to grow the number.”
Encouraging the students to apply for the SJI program and other opportunities in newsrooms, the editors went over the students’ resumes and the student newspaper.
"The main thing I learned today was how necessary it is for you to attempt to stand out with your resume and how to market yourself in the proper way to get a job. They get 300-400 applications for one spot and you need to be able to stand out from everyone else," Dorsey said.
Olivia Lewis is a senior at Hampton University and is majoring in broadcast journalism. She was a member of the Sports Journalism Institute Class of 2012 and completed an internship at the Houston Chronicle.
Link to Day of Diversity page:
