Erin N. Riley | Jan. 25, 2008
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| Photo by Erin N. Riley |
| IndyStar.com content editor Tom Leyden advised students on the skills they will need to work on the Web. |
The growth of multimedia is behind this demand, Leyden told students in associate instructor Lanier Holt’s and interim director of student media Nancy Comiskey’s combined classes. To demonstrate the effects of this trend, Leyden cited statistics: The IndyStar.com receives 45 million views monthly, compared to the newspaper’s circulation of fewer than 4 million copies.
While journalists always have battled tight deadlines and writing pressures, Leyden said this is what drives multimedia reporting.
“The first thing about writing for the Web,” he said, “is get it now, get it fast and just write it.”
While many students in the class said they were not familiar with Web reporting, most of them have experience with it.
“I knew a lot about it before, but now it’s something that I would definitely consider more,” said junior Rachael Altoff. “It’s very similar to newspaper reporting.”
Leyden recommended students get as much multimedia experience as possible while in college. Without Web reporting experience, it will be hard to get a job in the field of journalism, he said. Students should have a “tool box” of skills, including video, photo, Web knowledge and the ability to report and write quickly.
But the writing itself should not be complicated, he said.
“Keep it short and simple, because everyone scans,” Leyden said. “No one reads on the Web. We’re hunters and gatherers on the Web.”
At the end of his presentation, Leyden asked students how long they expected newspapers to survive. Some predicted in 10 to 20 years, newspapers will not exist and people will look for news only on the Internet or television. Others disagreed, saying that newspapers will last forever.
“People like to own and keep the news,” Altoff said. “People will always want something to back it up. The Internet can’t provide that.”
