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The way we consume our news continues to shift from print to online publications.  As a result of this decline in newspaper circulation, more than 10,000 journalism jobs were lost last year.  This radical change leaves many questioning what the future holds for journalists.  Many professionals in the field believe that fundamentals of traditional journalism are just as important as ever to build the foundation for effective multimedia journalism.

Pamela Chen manages original multimedia productions as a senior communications coordinator for Open Society Institute of New York, an organization whose mission is to work to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens.

“Storytelling remains the same, but our ability to distribute and our opportunities increase dramatically in multimedia storytelling.  The content of the story is very much traditional, but how we present it, we have vast new possibilities,”  said Chen.

Ashley Wells, executive creative director for MSNBC.com, says there is value with in-depth research that can be obtained with traditional journalism techniques.  Taking that foundation and adding multimedia elements enhances the story.

“What the web can bring in terms of multimedia, is aggregating different angles of the story, and when you put a bunch of different angles to the story, the story gets wider, its impact gets bigger,” said Wells.

Access to a variety of angles provides a greater opportunity for a reader to connect with a story.

“[This] depth allows the reader to delve into parts of the story that they are really interested in and [they] have more resources to understanding the story and to have more depth than before,” said Nancy Donaldson, multimedia producer of the New York Times.

As readers can easily access an extensive archive of articles on a particular subject, they will be even more connected because of multimedia journalism.

— This podcast episode is part of a series on multimedia journalism created by students at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, California. Audio clips from the Multimedia Standards grid were used with permission.