THE BLACKBERRY REPORTER

Jun 15, 2011 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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It must be the photograph of the year. It appeared in yesterday’s edition of the Kaieteur News. Where else?
A Kaieteur News reporter is interviewing someone. Instead of using a tape recorder to record what the man is saying, the reporter is using his Blackberry. Was this a case of the reporter mixing up his instruments?
Not at all! The reporter was simply using his expensive and multi-functional Blackberry to record the interview.
This is the first time that I have ever seen anything like that. It shows just how far technology has advanced, whereby a telephone now can take the place of those recording devices that journalists fetch around their shoulders as they go about their beat.
Originally these recorders were huge contraptions which no reporter could fetch, much less point into the face of someone being interviewed so as to record what they were saying.
Later, the recorder was miniaturised and came small enough to fit into a case which could be carried about easily. But it was unwieldy and discomforting and many reporters preferred the old-fashioned way of simply writing their notes and transcribing these back in the editorial room.
In the days of old-fashioned journalism, all a reporter needed was a small notebook, his own system of shorthand, a pen and a good memory for backup. He had to acquire the skills of writing quickly and accurately and had to know how to write a direct quotation. It was skills which every reporter had to learn and learn quickly.
Reporters these days have a great deal of help. This help comes in the form of gadgets that can fit into their pockets. No longer are reporters just sticking microphones into the faces of persons. They are using miniature tape recorders and, as we saw in yesterday’s edition of this newspaper, even a Blackberry.
The Blackberry has an amazing number of features. Not only is it a telephone instrument, but the reporter can text the entire story back to the editor, the text being sent via the internet which is one of the many features on the phone. Better yet, the reporter can type the story on the phone itself and send it via the internet straight to the editor’s mailbox.
The Blackberry comes with some additional features which are also shared by other phones. It can do voice recording, take still photographs and video.
Stabroek News is advertising for a photo-journalist. In short, it is asking for a journalist who can take photographs. The successful applicant has to be capable of taking still shots as well as videos.
Years ago, the still shots were assigned to professional photographers and the video shots to those trained in the use of a video camera, were usually persons employed in television.
Long ago, also, the two positions of journalist and photographer were distinct. There were journalists who reported on the news and wrote features, and there were photographers who followed in tow and whose responsibility it was to provide visual images to supplement the journalist’s account. These photographers were usually trained and experienced in the art of photography. Some of the best photographers in Guyana have emerged from the media.
These specialised photographers are now a dying breed because of the advent of technology and the changing nature of media work. With the birth of digital photography and the ability of various software that allow for image improvements, even a bad shot can be made right with adjustments on the camera itself. Sometimes the camera is self-adjusting which means that it automatically makes the necessary corrections with the person behind the lens not having to worry too much about the light, reflection, distance or angle.
The secret to good photography has always been about the blend of light, distance and the angle. In the old days, a good photographer was one who could, for each shot, create the right balance in light, distance and angle. These days, the camera makes all the adjustments.
These days almost all the reporters carry digital cameras and this is a great help to the newspapers, because it means that for every story that is covered there can be an image.
Just recently, the average reporter needed a few things in his or her toolkit. He or she may have had a mini tape recorder, a laptop computer to type his/her story, a notebook and pen, and of course, a camera.
But with the rapid improvements in technology, all a reporter now needs is a Blackberry because he can tape an interview with it, type up his story, take a still or video shot and send the completed text and images straight from location to the editor’s desk.
So the next time you see a reporter sticking a phone in your face. He may not be facilitating you with a phone call, you may be on record, being taped and photographed at the same time. What a wonder is this thing called technology!
Who knows in the future, the Blackberry may even be able to write the story for you. Now would that not make life easy for the media?

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