May 4, Showtime 7:30: I’m doing a presentation at Miami’s Science Museum on “Backpack Journalism.” The nuts and bolts of the 50 pound (not me, the gear), all-in-one producer, reporter, shooter, editor, satellite tech — the cut-rate combo (“do you want fries with your order”) package. While the technology has made the gear more portable, with the ability to function with a smaller crew, there are unexamined consequences of how this affects coverage. We’ve seen the shift that the continuous news cycle has created where the reporter has little time to actually get into the field because he has on-air obligations. The new gear feeds into this conundrum, more flexibility and agility with less time to apply it.
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