Backpack journalism
With backpack journalism , the journalist is usually on the move as a backpacker in areas that are difficult to access . He has extensive technical equipment (laptop, camcorder, digital camera, etc.) with him that enables him to perform several journalistic roles such as reporter , editor or photographer in personal union.
Definition and characteristics
"The basic idea of the genre is to let the recipients participate in their own experiences directly and directly." This is primarily done via the World Wide Web , and here the social media . This enables the backpack journalist to interact directly with the recipient .
Backpack journalism originated in the USA around the mid-1990s. The New York Times started the "Video News International" (VNI) project. Print journalists and photographers were specifically trained in the use of high-quality, digital video cameras. The trained journalistic all-rounders should contribute to the fact that television companies reported more about international conflicts, so the intention of the project. The backpack journalism genre was finally strengthened by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the events that followed. Numerous eyewitness reports from mobile reporters were broadcast, including major news organizations such as the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) and the National Broadcasting Company (NBC).
Differentiation from mobile journalism
Backpack journalism is related to mobile journalism . As with this, several journalistic roles are taken on by one journalist in backpack journalism. Since the advent of the smartphone , this has been possible using a single device, so that the backpack no longer primarily has to serve as a means of transport for the various devices. In contrast to mobile journalism, backpack journalism sees itself as outdoor journalism, so that the backpack is still required for catering and self-sufficiency.
Potential and criticism
According to observers, the increasing popularity of online videos is leading to an increased need for backpack journalists. With "FastCast", for example, there is an Austrian start-up that specifically uses backpack journalists to create online videos.
The criticism of backpack journalism starts above all with the motives of the publishers for this form of journalism and the working conditions of backpack journalists. There is a risk "that media companies under the label" Backpack Journalism "transfer all production processes and competencies for reporting, for which a larger team was previously responsible, to one person in order to save costs."
Individual evidence
- ↑ Stefan Seitz: Backpack Journalism, in: Deutscher Fachjournalisten-Verband (Ed.): Journalistische Genres, UVK-Verlag, Konstanz 2016, p. 253.
- ↑ http://www.journalist.de/ratgeber/handwerk-beruf/redaktionswerkstatt/die-poynter-pyramide-was-journalisten-koennen-muessen.html
- ↑ Carina Wiesinger / Susanne Praß: News from the rucksack: Videos conquer the newspaper market. https://forschungsgruppe-medienwandel.com/2015/01/26/nachrichten-aus-dem-rucksack-der-journalismus-in-der-fast-food-falle/
- ↑ See http://www.horizont.at/home/news/detail/mehr-als-nerds-mit-rucksack.html?cHash=0904852be46fbe75dc010602d986077f
- ↑ Seitz, Backpack Journalism, p. 260