Abstract
JournalismNext by Mark Briggs, which is now in its second edition, is a useful resource for any professional journalist, citizen journalist, and journalism student. A person will find that the best use of this book is as a how-to manual. Overall, JournalismNext will help journalists use digital tools that are necessary to tell compelling and interesting stories in a social media world.
Mark Briggs categorizes the book into three units: Basics, Multimedia, and Editing and Decision Making. Unit One: Basics consists of five chapters that help readers understand web design, blogging, crowdsourcing, social media, and mobile technology. What makes this unit work is that Briggs does not just explain, but gives instructions to execute the example. For example in Chapter 1, Briggs gives systematic instructions on how to create a web page. Briggs acknowledges that coding is very intimidating, but gives a good basic lesson that helps break down the barriers many nonweb designers may have about creating their own web page. Many journalists may never have to create code for a website, but the basic knowledge about browsers, Rich Site Summary feeds and coding language may help journalists explain how they want their story presented online to their organization’s web designer or web content manager.
What I like most about Unit One is how Briggs does not ignore the most important part of online journalism, which is the audience. In Chapter 3, Briggs explains crowdsourcing. On page 65, he shares an example about how to visualize data collected from the crowd using Google Fusion. He wants journalists to welcome the ideas of crowdsource and open-source reporting as opportunities “to collaborate with the audience and do better work” (p. 88).
Unit Two is about using Multimedia. Over three chapters Briggs explains digital photography, audio, and video. At the end of each chapter, he creates a checklist to help readers organize the steps to their multimedia adventure. The most important aspect to this unit is how Briggs explains ownership, copyright, and fair use of images. Briggs’ most poignant advice for photographs online, “Don’t steal. If you want to use something that belongs to someone else, ask first” (p. 141).
Throughout the book, Briggs highlights a newsroom innovator, such as Stokes Young, executive producer for MSNBC.com. Young explains since the average citizen posts pictures online, he encourages journalists to go beyond what the citizen photographer is doing and to “tell really great stories really well in order to stand out” (p. 169). Between Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram—storytelling has become fragmented and it is important we reiterate to journalists that the audience still needs them to fill in the blanks and to keep telling compelling stories that go beyond the chatter of one’s social media feed.
Unit Three concentrates on editing and decision making. In Chapter 9, Briggs describes data and discusses how to manage data. Not only does he concentrate on how to incorporate data into stories, but he also manages to explain how not to become overwhelmed with personal data. For example, on page 237, Briggs helps journalists implement their own data management strategy, especially managing the email inbox.
In Chapter 10, Briggs gives journalists wise advice concerning social media and how it can promote conversation. Briggs writes, “Like the telephone and e-mail before it, social media is the latest change in how people are connecting and communicating. But the change is purely tactical; the standards and value of journalism do not change” (p. 270). Briggs even explains the value to creating a community within an online news organization because it will help journalists build an online audience, which he explains in detail in the final chapter.
Overall, the Briggs’ book is a good overview on how to use digital tools to create effective, quality journalism. Briggs takes the old school journalists and welcomes them to the 21st-century world of online journalism with real-world examples from newsrooms. Every journalist should have this book on their desk as a quick reference if one is or not familiar with the online world. This book is also a good supplement to any college journalism course.
Today, the audience is craving good storytelling. Twitter and Facebook will never fill the social capital of the news audience. Briggs does a good job reiterating that just because a journalist is telling a story online does not mean a journalist has to sacrifice the quality of the storytelling.