Changing News, Changing Reseach

Andrew Marr has just written a very good piece about the changing nature of news and journalism.  His main thrust is that the changing technology and number of authors/voices out there has meant that during any crisis he is personally merging professional news sources with comment.  For me, this was best seen during the election and budget a couple of weeks ago when I was watching the BBC for the official footage and some instant comment but supplementing this with twitter and blogs to provide comment.  Now, we're all aware that this is partisan comment but as readers' we are able to differentiate between a variety of news sources and voices.  Marr's argument goes onto say that rather than being focused on a variety of spikes (news bulletins, newspaper editions), news now permeates.  This requires a new way of reading news and a new of interacting with information which academia could learn from.   

I remember when doing the MA in Broadcast Journalism, they justified the level of the degree by saying that good academia is like good news: based on thorough, honest, thoughtful research which is well targeted and challenging for its audience.  As part of this I wrote a list in 2005 called My Rucksack and Beliefs saying what I thought I needed to my job.  Five years on and my career has changed from researching news to researching as an academic.   The list in 2005 was as follows:

1. My Notebook
2. My Contacts Book
3. Pens and Pencils
4. A Diary
5. An Umbrella, hat and gloves
6. A lunch box
7. Mini-Disks
8. Pen Knife, Tissues and Condoms
9. CD/Radio Player
10. A Book
11. Spare Batteries
12. Me?

As an academic researcher, I still need numbers 1 to 4 to keep records and make sure interviews with participants take place.  Increasingly electronic varieties are common but pen and paper does not run out of power! Numbers 5 and 6 are still important as keeping warm and fed is just as important for the academic in a drafty library as the door-stepping journalist.  Mini-disks are now outdated but I still use a little digital recorder to record interviews.  Number 8 lists tools for maintaining recording equipment (the condom was to stop wind on the mic) and I still carry most of the stuff but for different reasons: packed lunches, a cold nose and ... um ...  The CD/Radio has been replaced by a digital radio but along with the books and batteries provide the latest info for my research as well as entertainment.  So the list needed to be a good researcher has not changed that much though perhaps a little more high-tech: a lap top along with a mobile would probably feature. 

Yet, I have a feeling I am unusual in my research; the fact I keep this blog and twitter is often derided by the academic community.  For me, it is a way of sharing and testing my theories, for exchanging ideas and forming a larger debate.  The changing technology has opened news to a new audience and yet many (though not all)  in academia remain aloof and not engaging with the technology or the potential audience.  Personally, I think academia - like news - should become a rolling dialogue with official voices (academics at universities) and commentators (those from the wider community). 

What is universal to both the 2005 and 2010 lists and in common with Andrew Marr's article is the importance of the individual.  The ability to tell a story, to identify key issues and ask the questions is necessary to both trades, yesterday, today and tomorrow.  This will not be lost in a changed academia - indeed the value of the individual could be enhanced and, as Marr concludes, thus making it an exciting world to be involved in.