Backpack journalism

150 word limit is a cruel punishment for commenting on a topic you are passionate about.

I absolutely disagree with Martha Stone. Backpack journalism is a "jack of all trades, and master of none" is a poor description for such a medium. It is animal of it owns, fueled by a unique culture that has been created by the internet. To think that it should conform to same standards as mainstream media is foolish.

One of her comments was that backpack journalist would not be able to notice a smudge on the camera that a professional photographers can notice and fix. Majority of the online community does not care about that much quality otherwise youtube.com would not be as popular as it is right now. A perfect example is craigslist.com; compared to the newspaper classified it is an absolutely inferior quality product. Craigslist.com is poorly designed, ridiculous fonts choice, looks absolutely horrendous and yet it is a thousand times more popular than any classifieds in any newspaper, anywhere. Why? Because, by the end of the day, it turns a complex workings of posting classified in the newspaper into much more efficient and simplified process. Signing up for the site is easy, ads get out faster, reach more people, and provide everyone with an enormous selection from across the globe. Yet the site looks like something a 12-year-old made on a sugar-high. The internet rewards functionality far more than quality.

Another issue I have with her post is that she quotes Gary Kebbel saying that backpack journalist products on breaking news would not be finished until a month after the news event. A full in-depth story about a breaking news takes weeks before it develops into a so-called masterpiece. Till then newspapers are putting out brief with repeat information and bunch of officials saying 'no comments' or ' i dunno what happened, it will take a while before figure out the situation.' A backpack journalist can put out such brief in a more concise manner where they do not have to repeat information from past stories to keep audience up to date. They simply update the site as they acquire information over time until it finally a complete product. An example, though not journalistic, are video games sites. When a game is first announced the Web site dedicated to it is barren with one or two articles and a video or two. But over time they evolve into this one massive one-stop-for-everything package, capturing events as they develop.

As for backpack journalist being "...masters of none." My younger brother learned to create elaborate Adobe Flash movies and web site contents at the age of 13 using nothing but the help tab. There is technology out there that helps make editing, shooting and recreating multimedia projects easier and there are tips out there how to improve such projects, to make them more professional without the requirement of a team or expensive training (never underestimate the power of Google.com). People cannot believe that the complexity of TV and print news can be simplified into a process that a single individual can carry out on his own. It can be done. Not only can it be done but i believe that a backpack journalist can easily match the quality of specialized individuals but not providing not the same product but a more efficient and complete product. All they need is dedication and faith in their field.