Jacks of all Trades will Deliver Unique Flavors

Zach Wade

Backpack Journalism, as Jane Stevens describes it, will undoubtedly be reporter-driven and therefore subject to the style of the respective reporters. When the future journalist has his or her hand in the majority of news production we will see individual news personalities develop. Stevens is correct that journalists will require broader skill sets to wield future multimedia production. But what will be interesting to see is if the personal bias and perspectives of the self-sufficient journalist bleed through the news more heavily than layers of production and newsroom personalities allow for currently. Some may argue that the process and give-and-take with a team of journalists foster a more objective or democratic news product. The Backpack Journalist exercises sole discretion and may make reporting a practice in arbitration rather than a careful process of delivering information.