Technology Is Changing Journalism Just as It Always Has
Our journey into the digital future begins with an essay by Tom Regan, associate editor of The Christian Science Monitor’s Web site. His advice: Remember that technology is changing journalism, “as it always has;” wireless is the next publishing realm, and the Web—as a news distribution method—is (almost) already dead.
By using new technological devices to disassemble millions of computerized records, Chicago Tribune project reporter Mike Berens unearthed patterns of fatal nursing errors and transformed statistics into investigative stories. Brant Houston, executive director of Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. (IRE), explains how he trains journalists to use new computer tools to enhance their reporting. Patricia Coleman, research director at IRE, Jim Morrill, a reporter at The Charlotte Observer, and Bill Graves, who writes for The Oregonian, share their reporting experiences with listservs and document searches. Jerome Aumente, professor emeritus at Rutgers, urges journalism educators to help find imaginative solutions to the new workplace demands of this digital era.
