This past weekend all the staff writers made our way down to the New England Press Association’s (NEPA) annual convention in Boston, Mass. Being a new reporter I was looking forward to meeting other writers with hopes of getting closer to figuring out what this reporter gig is all about.
    Instead, I saw the effect the Internet is having on the newspaper industry. Some papers are scared when it comes to expanding onto the Web, others are so focused on it they’re beginning to consider newsprint an accessory to their Web sites, podcasts and blogs.
    One woman, who undoubtedly has more experience in the newspaper industry that I, lectured on how to write headlines so an Internet search engine could locate the article easier. It’s like going back in time, she said, instead of writing unique, quirky headlines that catch local readers’ attention, we should include the basic words that a search engine will pick up on: where, what and when, to maximize the number of online readers.
    I wonder when authors will title their novels “Pick This Up and Read it.” Instead of “Harry Potter” we’d have “Boy Escapes to Magical Land.”
    Another lecturer explained that no matter how good a writer is, they cannot convey an image to their readers as video can. He said even the best descriptive writing cannot fully portray a scene as a website with interactive links, videos and ongoing threads of conversation can.
    I wonder how frightened reporters were when their editors first began to incorporate still photos with their articles. While the still images in newspapers can ground a story for a reader, it is just that for a writer: a grounding. Why should a reporter describe how beautiful the snowflakes are falling on the burning building, when a photograph shows it to readers? Readers may think the scene isn’t so beautiful after all. To attempt to describe something readers are able to see firsthand is to offer yourself to the wolves, since no one sees things the exact same way.
    Often reporters are scolded if they attempt to include any style in their articles, in attempts to be as accurate as possible they’re told to stick to the basics, stay away from editorializing, and never to use adjectives!
    However, like a major league baseball player who was scolded for swinging a baseball bat when they were a child, reporters eventually reach a point in their professional career where they learn to stylize their writing and keep their reporting accurate.        
If we are to include more mediums in our newspaper reporting, we need to be prepared to lose a little in the way we read it. Even professional reporters won’t bother to artfully portray a scene that is captured on video. What’s the point of learning to swing the bat if spectators already know how the ball gets over the wall?
    Like it or not, reporting is an art. And by art, I don’t mean it’s some subjective piece of fiction; professional reporters try to be objective in conveying real life events in a creative way. I believe the written word will suffer as we begin to communicate in new ways; we’re inadvertently replacing the professional artist with videos, websites and other news mediums.
    While the NEPA convention wasn’t exactly what I had expected, it taught me a lot about the future of the industry that has been around longer than the photograph, television and the Internet. If the newspaper has survived as much change as it has, I have faith there will be a need for editors, reporters and photographers for many years to come.
    I am looking forward to sharing stories of today’s cumbersome technology when I am older, just as many reporters twice my age tried to terrify me with their tales of heavy metal typewriters and no spell check.
                    –Nate Jones