Importance of specialization

Jane Stevens says that, "In a few years, backpack journalists will not only be the rule, they'll rule." This is certainly something that I have heard over and over since arriving at the j-school two weeks ago. Even those who are not on the convergence track will be trained for a converged newsroom. They will have to know how to do it all. However, I too share Martha Stone's fears that the backpack journalist is the "Jack of all trades, and master of none." There is still a need in the newsroom for specialization, which Stevens leaves room for in her argument, but I believe that the importance of specialization will increase as the number of backpack journalists increases. The converged journalist must not lose any skill in his specialization just because he adds multimedia skills. It seems that now a journalist must be just as skillful as he was before in his specialization, but must have the added responsibility of learning these new skills as well.