The Republic

Seamless is the word that comes to mind when I think of Phoenix. Being in the Walter Cronkite School  where efficiency is number one, where technology is beautifully integrated, where the journalism of the past meets journalism of the future is an awe-inspiring experience. It seems to be a philosophy adopted by many organizations in the area.

Our trip to The Arizona Republic reaffirmed this observation. The Republic is a model for new age journalism. The converged newsroom is a shift toward the future. We spent an hour in a meeting where writers and content producers from all disciplines met to share and exchange ideas. The stories that we heard about today could have been picked up by azcentral.com, The Arizona Republic or Channel 12 news. Regardless of who picked up on what story, they would all be talked about or shared online through social media outlets.

Is this converged newsroom the future for high school journalists? It's all brought together by the Web, but I can't see the yearbook, newspaper and broadcast class at my school brought together into one class for years to come. Journalism education is behind the times. There should be more effort from every journalism program to integrate their content into an online medium, but it will be years and years before that is ever witnessed. I have to question the service we're providing our students. Sure, the foundational aspects are in all of our classrooms, and, in high school, that's what matters. However, do we have the obligation to integrate our content into an online platform, or is it okay to produce one issue every month? One broadcast every month? Our kids need time to create a product worthy of their names, but we should demand more of ourselves and more of our students to give them an experience that more accurately reflects journalism today.

Zachary McNulty
Winnetonka High School
Kansas City, Mo.