The outbreak of COVID19 has impacted our world in a way that many people could have never predicted.
In the United States, universities have sent students home for the rest of the semester and transitioned to distance learning. On March 23rd, Villanova University announced class will remain online for the remainder of the semester.
This has impacted not only universities but all levels of education as they are moving to online learning. On April 1st, California Governor, Gavin Newsom, announced that all schools in the state will remain closed for the rest of the school year.
Not all people have been affected the same way, yet all are feeling the changes that this pandemic has placed on the nation and the world. This is how this transitional time has effected one San Francisco Bay Area family.
As the Digital Era has come full force into our live throughout the past 20 years, new technologies like Livestreaming, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence, and Holograms have come into fruition. As society moves away from traditional print media, journalists and companies alike have begun to adapt through incorporating these techniques in order to draw in viewers and customers.
Going Live has become a new piece of social media that has taken off in recent years. Celebrities and influencers use to promote their products or communicate with their fans. Journalists use it to spread the news on social media. Some sites that have this feature ate Facebook, Periscope, and Instagram. Facebook Live launched in 2016 and has been since used for streaming violence like terrorist attacks and police brutality. Politicians have also used it as a platform to preach their opinions. Going Live is as simple as clicking a button, but there are many ways in which people can successfully do so in order to achieve the goals of the Livestream. Some of these tips are to be creative, have a secure wifi connection, use a tripod for stability, turn on incoming calls blocker, use a phone with good camera quality, and keep in mind the platform. This means that if you are going live on Facebook, make sure that your video is vertical because that is the shape of the screen on that social media. Some other tips are to use a microphone if you are recording your voice or someone else’s, come up with a creative headline for the Livestream, never Livestream for less than a minute, always save it to your camera roll when it is done, be nice, be patient and interact with your viewers.
In a new journalism course, #ILLINOIS students harnessed virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality to design their own immersive experiences.
Virtual reality is yet another one of these new and upcoming technologies. VR can also be named immerse multimedia. It can recreate sensory experiences of real places in the world or imaginary words in a 360-degree setting. There are many different gadgets that can produce this type of media on the market but many range in the pricey category. There are many tips that come along with creating this for yourself. First, treat the camera like a person. This will help the viewer have a more realistic view of the VR world. Second, be aware of the stitch lines, which are the areas of the image that connect one picture to the next. Third, keep the camera stable and level unless it is meant to not be in a specific environment. Unnecessary motion will give the viewer motion sickness unless it is purposeful and something that they are used to. One case of this would be in the car. Some say that VR is the future of journalism because it puts people in the story. This way, readers have the ability to remember a news story with their entire body as if they were really there when it took place. I think that this will be a new form of multimedia for journalists to capture their viewers. I personally have always been a more visual learner and I tend to find video new stories more impactful. Through using VR I think that this will amplify storytelling to the next level.
Augmented Reality is similar yet different from VR. AR is a live direct or indirect of a real-world environment whose elements are supplemented by computer-generated sensory input. An easy way to understand this complicated definition is by looking at the AR technologies that Amazon has developed. They have a feature where you can place an item that you are thinking about ordering in your home to see if it looks good. This helps people by them not needing to go through the trouble of waiting to see if the item looks good in their home after it has been delivered, causing them to need to package it back up to send back. Companies like Vespa are also using these technologies to enhance their sales experience. They have a tool online where you can customize your own Vespa, take it for a virtual test drive, and then locate a dealership near you where you can purchase it.
Another new technology that has increased in popularity in recent years is Holograms. Previously, Holograms have been used in film and seen as extremely high-tech. Today, politicians have used 3D holograms to give speeches as if they were there in the room. I think that this will become a more prominent and achievable technology in the coming years.
Lastly, Artificial Intelligence has come into play in recent media. This demonstrates the technological capabilities that people have these days. Additionally, it poses a threat to social media in terms of fake news. In this video, it demonstrates how people have the ability to take a video of Obama and manipulate his face and voice. This shows how people sitting at home can make a fake video whether it is Obama, Trump, or any other important and impactful person. As viewers in this new social media clouded the internet world, it is our job to understand these new technologies and how they work.
Citizen journalism is when the public plays an active role in producing and sending journalistic information out into the world. This has come into play in more recent history as anyone with a smartphone and internet connection can record or photograph something that is happening to share it on social media. This has sparked a debate among the journalism community whether or not citizen journalism is “real journalism.” Some argue, especially those who are journalists themselves, that every day citizens should not have the same recognition because they do not have the same experience and qualifications. This is due to the fact that journalists go to school, study, and work for years to be successful in the profession. On the other hand, people promote citizen journalism because they believe that it has major benefits in the Information Society.
Davies Merritt was the first person to bring this idea into fruition when he wrote about civic journalism. Although one has led to the other, people today claim that there is a clear difference between the two terms. Civic journalism is when journalists reach out to their viewers, listeners, and readers to find out what they want to know. This is then allows the journalist to send out the information that the people are interested in. In 1995, Nicholas Negroponte, an American architect, wrote in his book ‘Being Digital’ that the future of journalism on the internet was leading toward the consumers having the ability to have a voice in what they want. This has led to the area of the sharing space that we are familiar with today. With technology continuing to advance, we have had the ability to reach to a new territory where the consumers now have the power to produce their own information. This was something that only the journalists had the power to do through the television and radio prior to Web 2.0 and the integration of social media into everyday life.
There are many benefits that come with citizen journalism. First of all it is free. The only tool it requires is a smartphone which the average person already has invested in and carries with them at all times every day. Additionally, the information that is captured by citizens can add to a story that a journalist has done. For example, if there is a huge fire in California that a journalist is reporting on, they could use video footage from a citizen that was there before the camera crew and the reporter could reach the scene. Today, as this is becoming more and more of a reality, it is important for all citizens to keep in mind the principles of journalism. Some of the most important of these are transparency and precision. This is important in order to establish credibility and trust.
This is one of Britain’s biggest citizen journalism projects.
👇👇👇👇👇👇👇@BBCNews is asking the people of Wrexham to help set the news agenda for a week.
Citizen journalism is affecting the ways that we hear, see, and read the news every single day. Despite the conflict in its upcoming, this is the future. Technology, the internet, and social media have drastically changed the course of many careers in all aspects of life. As this is our reality, it is crucial for users to seize these changes and adapt, especially journalists.
Valentí Sanjuan is a 38-year-old journalist. He has quite a large following in the social media world: 362k followers on Instagram, 253k followers on Facebook, 197k subscribers on Youtube, and 118k followers on Twitter. All of this totaling at nearly one million followers across these platforms, it is clear that influencer is a large piece of Sanjuan’s job description. With his successes in being today’s modern journalist, this has come with the perks of being an influencer, like his sponsorship from Adidas and other companies.
Despite his success today, you could definitely say that Sanjuan started from the bottom. About ten years ago Sanjuan was fired from his job at a radio station. In less than a year he was bankrupt, his mother passed away from cancer, and his girlfriend left him. Sanjuan talked about that time in which he hit rock bottom causing him to have anxiety like he never had before. Because of this, he turned to running at night to cope. Through this, Sanjuan found happiness in athletics that he had been lacking in his life during that time. He decided to participate in an Ironman, which is a long-distance triathlon. The way that the Ironman works is that the contestants swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and run 26.2 miles, in that order.
“After that you decide if you rest, or if you rest in peace.”
Valentí Sanjuan, talking about finishing an Ironman Triathlon
Around this time was when social media like we know it today began to take off. Sanjuan decided to film the process of completing his first Iron Man. He trained for two months and then competed in the Ironman Lanzarote in 2013 with a total of 1800 contestants. By combining storytelling, content, and social media, Sanjuan navigated his way through becoming a social media star without any role models in this new territory of media.
Through using his journalism skills, Sanjaun created something that was very new to the internet at that time. By recording his story in the first person with a GoPro, he highlighted the pain and suffering of the journey. Today this video has over 500k views on Youtube. The thing that sparked interest and ultimately led to his following wasn’t purely the story itself, but instead his personality. Throughout the video story, it shows the way that Sanjuan kept positive and light-hearted energy throughout the extreme athletic strain he went through by cracking jokes. At the end of the video, the happiness and accomplishment of completing his first Ironman set an extremely motivational tone. As his social media following began to take off, so did his athletic passions. Today, some Sanjuan’s accomplishments have been completing 10 Ironmans in 10 days, multiple Ultraman’s, and this past year he did a Toroman.
Este va a ser el AVIÓN que vamos a llevar a los 2 Ironmans y 5 Ultramans de este año! Del 1 al 10, cuán enamorados estáis? 🤘💀⚡️ pic.twitter.com/7pdSnHtQKC
Over the years, Sanjuan has been the perfect example of how social media has changed so many things about the spread of information. As time has gone by, he just keeps coming back for more. Every year his athletic abilities have developed and the same can be said for the journalism side. Through documenting his experiences he has developed an inspired audience, which is the core of his influencer status. Through watching his story of the struggles that he endures in the intense races, Sanjuan’s fans feel connected to him. People that follow him feel an emotional connection to his journey.
After sharing his own story began to feel repetitive, Sanjuan decided to start focusing his content on the people that he met along the way. He said that one of the best parts of participating in these extreme athletic competitions was the inspiring stories of others. One of these was about Bebe Vio who is a paralympic fencer. She shared her story about losing her limbs and fighting her way to the Paralympics to do what she loved most. This is where Sanjuan has struck gold with his content. The unique stories of the people that came into his life through sports stepped up the motivational tone in all of his work. This sparked his followers to ask themselves: “What am I doing? What’s my excuse?” Whether that be accomplishing an Ironman, conquering a fear, achieving a goal, or stepping outside of a comfort zone, this element in his work allows for viewers to relate to the human emotions that the videos feature. Sanjuan said this element has been the key to his success and following. Today, Sanjuan has expanded his content to documentaries. In the Cape Epic 2019 documentary, he highlights the sports side and the human side of the race. Through this Sanjuan says he goes, enjoys, suffers, competes, races, and meets people with inspiring stories.
The avenue that Sanjuan has chosen to embark on in his journalism career is much different than the traditional media. Before the dawn of the Digital Era, journalists stuck to television, print, and radio. Today, journalists have the power to take their content and their stories on the go, anywhere and everywhere. The avenue that Sanjuan’s stories come in is at peak for the types of stories that he is putting out there. Today’s influencers have found that it is important to be fluent in all social media platforms that have a lot of traffic in order to grow and reach more people. In Sanjuan’s case, most of his core content relies on his Youtube channel and the other platforms are used to promote his work and brand deals.
According to Business Insider in 2018, Youtube had 1.8 billion users monthly. Today, many people’s favorite social media app to use is Youtube and this creates a great ecosystem for Sanjuan’s stories to exist. Over the years, his videography, editing, and content has evolved into a very professional level. Because of this, his following has continued to grow.
In terms of travel, the same type of content can be seen. Christian LeBlanc is an influencer with over 1.4 million followers on Youtube. LeBlanc’s channel is called Lost LeBlanc and his content highlights his travels all around the world. Through his videography and editing skills, LeBlanc has established a following that is different and similar to SanJuan’s all at the same time. Although the channels focus is not journalism based, LeBlanc uses his experiences to guide and inspire people in all terms of travel.
People do not buy goods and services, they buy relations, stories, and magic.
MoJo is a new form of journalism that is becoming more and more popular in recent years. Essentially, mobile journalism is media storytelling that is created through smartphones and internet connection. Now that it is common for most people to own a portable electronic device of some kind, they have the ability to produce journalism super simply. Videos, images, and recordings can all be shot, edited, and sent out to the media with the use of internet connection and very minimal gadgets.
Nick Garnett is a journalist at BBC that has had an impact on spreading the word about MoJo. He found that he could produce the same journalistic stories without a fancy camera or a crew. Garnett has shown the quality pieces that he has produced with simply his smartphone, a tripod, a microphone, and an internet connection. This has inspired others to take their journalistic work into their own hands and create content with the tools that they already have with them everywhere they go.
Huge news for mobile journalism. Edit on the fly and add post-production elements and formatting in Final Cut. #mojohttps://t.co/QlVlod0vgR
One of the positive aspects of MoJo is that you have your own freedom to create content anywhere. You can make a story just by using your phone to record and edit. This makes it easier for you to have full topical and creative control of your work. More positives are that it is very portable, cheap, and quick. On the other hand, the negative aspects of MoJo are ill-stability, poor lighting, and lower quality audio. Yet, all of these things can be improved with simple tools and tricks.
This concept is something that isn’t so foreign to my generation. For years people have been using their phones to record and edit videos for Youtube and other social media about their lives. This is just simply applying that to journalism and making it about telling stories. Thinking of it this way may even help others who have built a career off of making Youtube videos. At times I find myself bored when watching a vlog that had no plot. I’m likely to click off of a video of someone’s everyday tasks, but I find myself interested when there is action, a climax, and a resolution in the video. This morphs the content into a story, which is essentially the core of journalism.
I think that this concept can be applied to my travels so easily. I’m never without my phone and I’m constantly taking pictures and videos of what I’m doing. By adding in the basics of a story (the who, what, when, where, why, and how), facts, and interviews, you’ve got a journalistic piece. This has really shown me the true power of our smartphones in so many aspects of life. People today are creating their entire career through the use of smart phone content and social media. Studying this has inspired me to utilize the tools that I carry around with me in my iPhone.
In my opinion, it is extremely important to hop on the trends and changes in technology in all careers in order to stay the most competitive. I think that MoJo is a great example of the journalism world adapting to the new technologies that are a such huge part of our lives.
For more information click here to be directed to the Mobile Journalism Manual website.
The Yellow Brick Road 