Steve Buttry, Digital Transformation Editor of Digital First Media, attended my Comm 351 class on Tuesday, Feb. 26.
“Communications is in an earthquake/tsunami,” Buttry said, who built his brand and identity by blogging.
Buttry has been in communications and writing/editing for the last 40 years. He opened his segment by telling us that the journalists in the class do not know what they are getting themselves into after college because journalism is “changing daily.”
Buttry said that journalists today need to be “multi-platform journalists” which are the skills that we are practicing and improving in our Online Journalism course.
“Journalists should create stories for digital,” said Buttry. “Writing for print…story has no links.”
How does his comments make you feel? How do you respond to the changing world of journalism? Do you see any connections with your journalism courses at Mason? If so, how? If not, how might we be of help?
I feel Buttry’s comment that journalists don’t know what they’ll get into after graduation applies to every career choice, not just journalism. I am personally concentrating in Public Relations and double minoring in graphic design and online journalism, and what he says applies–I know what I want to do, but I can’t expect many things after I graduate.
Journalism is changing tremendously. It is interesting to watch it slowly morph into online journalism with more than just words to tell a story (pictures, videos, sounds). Yet, the basics of writing are not changing. Inverted pyramids, anecdotal ledes, and credible sources are still mandatory.
I feel certain Mason classes are truly helping. The more practice with writing, the better.