I Lean Towards the Realistic

Both articles have a strong, firm position that is easily defensible and very well thought out. With technology becoming more and more accessible and integrated in the modern society, reporters will have to learn new skills in order to keep up. Adaption is the key to success.

With this in mind, I do believe that convergence journalism, or back back journalism as it is referred to here, will be the mindset of the future. But my idea is slightly different. Reporters will have new skills, but I do not believe that on average a single reporter will be able to handle the entire workload. A talented, determined few might be able to pull this off, but I am of the same opinion as Martha Stone on this. A single reporter will not be enough.

But, as I have said before, I do believe that the spirit of back pack journalism will be how reporting is done in the future. But instead of one person doing all the work, I think that instead it will be a small team of two or three reporters working in tandem. Instead of a team of six or seven, the number of people would be cut in half as reporters gain a variety of skills. This is what I see in the future. A small team of talented individuals working towards a story, each specializing in one or two areas but having some knowledge of all the other aspects of the job. Because of this they would be able to operate together cohesively and be able to touch up each other's work.

So I believe in the spirit of back pack journalism, but I also believe that most of the time one reporter doing all the work would be inefficient. The idea is good, but how it is put into practice and be truly effective will be a little different than how Jane Stevens envisions it. Teams will become smaller, but they will not go away. I don't think they ever will, really.