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Some Fear Being Left Behind

By Adam Vicks and Kendrick Marshall
Black College Wire

Photo credit: Darryl D. Smith Some job applicants wonder whether they have the technical skills an employer wants. Kimberly Melton of the Oregonian in Portland, left, talks with the Tribune Co.'s Sheila R. Solomon at the job fair of the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Atlanta.

As electronic devices rapidly change the way journalists work, some students from historically black colleges say they are feeling left behind because their colleges don't have the equipment.

Some fear they will be unprepared to compete for internships and jobs.

"I believe that if we are to be better journalists, we should be exposed to what it takes to be a better journalist," said Ashley King, a sophomore mass communications student at Jackson State University.

Her journalism department does not have personal digital devices, she said. She does not have a laptop, a digital recorder to put sound on the Internet or other electronic tools of the trade.

The steep cost and rapid obsolescence of electronic equipment for reporting discourages some schools from purchasing the gadgets, some professors said. Others expect students to supply their own, but some students say they cannot afford them.

A digital recorder, for example, can cost $100 to $500, depending on its complexity; a laptop can cost $500 to $3,000; a BlackBerry $275 to $400. Meanwhile, the cost of duplicating a broadcast studio runs in the thousands.

Basic reporting and writing skills can be taught and learned without electronic devices, other instructors noted, adding that students should learn not to depend on gadgets.

"We talk about voice recorders, but we don't use them," said Valerie Nieman, an assistant professor at North Carolina A&T University who teaches basic news writing. She said she was most concerned with teaching basic newsgathering skills. "I always tell them that if they use recorders, to back it up with note taking."

Aware that journalism training in multiple disciplines is the way of the future, Jackson State University this summer upgraded many of its computers and software programs, including those in the radio and television editing lab, said Olorundare Aworuwa, acting chair of the Department of Mass Communications.

Also, apart from the department, plans are moving to open a state-of-the-art television studio in January, after three and a half years of doing without one, so students can practice their skills in a professional setting, said Sunny Smith, a broadcast instructor who observed some of the latest technology in the industry when she spent a month this summer at WRAL-TV in Raleigh, N.C., the first station in the country to get a license for high definition television.

Smith said she was looking for funding and industry partnerships that would provide tools and help prepare students for careers that demand sound, video and print skills. Also apart from the department, the student newspaper lends digital cameras and tape recorders, on a story-by-story basis, to students who do not have their own.

One way students and professionals learn about new media is by attending journalism conferences, such as the meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists that took place in August in Atlanta.

"Technology is a reality," said Lisa Bass, a contributing writer and new-media consultant for iCOM magazine, who moderated a panel discussion on new tools for journalists.

"I have been a reporter for 15 years and have been through the technological metamorphosis of the newsroom." Bass told NABJ members how journalists have moved from analog to digital with the use of such software as Adobe Audition and Cool Edit.

"There's a lot out there available that makes it cleaner, easier," she said.

Among the crowd of mostly seasoned professionals were sprinklings of college students and recent graduates, looking to stay abreast of the technological advances.

Panelist Dorothy Tucker, a consumer reporter for WBBM-TV in Chicago, explained how the technology has made TV production quicker and more efficient.

"The bar has widened," she said, with her arms stretched out to put emphasis on the effect that technology has had in producing television news. "In another six months, at BBM we will have a system with a laptop where we can send copy directly into production."

One device mentioned as increasingly popular in television news is the BlackBerry.

The BlackBerry "has audio capability that you can send to documents like PowerPoint," said panelist Lafontaine Oliver, who shared how he was able to conduct a 10-minute interview, send it back to his radio station and have it on air within five minutes.

As the operations and programming manager for Satellite One, a division of XM Radio in Washington, Oliver, a third-generation broadcaster, has witnessed the convenience of using several high-tech devices such as the Treo.

"What the BlackBerry doesn't have that the Treo has is the beam," Oliver said. He explained how this all-in-one mechanism has the capability to send a document from one Treo to another.

He added, "It has a chip that you can put an hour's worth of audio into or play into a laptop." In addition to working as a phone, electronic notebook, scheduler and MP3 player, the Treo can record video, take snapshots and send data instantly, he said.

But Oliver also warned of the hazards that come with using these devices -- for example, the loss of cell phone signals, and uncharged batteries. There is another downside to relying on new-media tools, which draw from Internet-based sources, Tucker said: "It's good, but it kind of adds another half hour to 45 minutes" to newsgathering.

Students said they were concerned about familiarizing themselves with new-media tools to better prepare themselves for their career.

"Our school does not teach or even know about the new media tools that are used by journalists today," said Jamar Davis, a senior broadcast major at North Carolina A&T. "Everyone coming out of school should have access to the new-media devices before they get jobs."

He uses a laptop to complete news reports at the campus TV station, but like many others, stressed that students should not rely on the tools so much that the tools become crutches.

"If you drop a laptop or another device and it breaks, then your story is dead," he said. "If you have something to fall back on like a pen and a pad, then you will be able to produce your story in a timely manner."

Phillip Jeter, professor and associate vice president at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, N.C., said most of his students are more tech savvy than the professors. He teaches media literature and introduction to mass media.

"I just try to remind my students that technology is a tool," and not always reliable, said Jeter.

"Everybody is trying to keep up," said Jannette Dates, dean of the Howard University School of Communications. "It is an atmosphere where it is competitive and we just try to give the students the best education possible in journalism."

Howard has received donations from individuals and companies, she said, adding that she does not know the exact cost of her journalism department's new-media equipment.

(It took a $10 million investment beginning in 2000 for Johnson C. Smith University to upgrade its campus, build computer labs and a technology center, and adopt the IBM ThinkPad University program, through which all students lease mobile computers as a part of their tuition. It was a way to ensure that every faculty member and 1,600 students were using contemporary computer technology.)

Alternatives exist for students whose colleges do not supply up-to-date tools.

Dori J. Maynard, president of the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, said if colleges are not supplying the students with modern tools, the students should find places where they can get them.

"You can go to libraries, get together with your fellow students in your schools and go after some of these companies to sponsor your school," Maynard said.

Another alternative could be for students to get print or broadcast internships at companies where they will see new-media equipment in use.

Maynard stressed that students need also to maintain the traditional and basic journalism skills that are not going to change.

"You need to be accurate, you need to be credible, you need to be fair."

Adam Vicks is a senior at Howard University. Kendrick Marshall is a senior at Jackson State University. Joi Gilliam, a senior at Howard University, contributed to this report.

Posted Aug. 16, 2005