Forum discusses advances needed to move journalism forward

COLUMBIA - Training in all news media is essential for a well-rounded journalist, but convergence is just the beginning. New technology will be necessary.

This was the conclusion reached in the Educating the Next Generation of Journalists forum Thursday morning.

Jean-Francois Fogel, a Parisian journalist, Maria Teresa La Porte Fernandez-Alfaro, dean of the University of Navarra School of Communication in Pamplona, Spain and Dean Mills, dean of the MU School of Journalism facilitated this discussion, with chancellor Brady Deaton moderating, at Fred W. Smith Forum in the Reynolds Journalism Institute.

"How do you provide the perfect widget?" Fogel asked while discussing the news medium of the future. "Is it necessary to be a geek to be a journalist in the future? I don't know, but it is not a bad quality."

Mills highlighted the importance of the new journalism facilities in coming up with technological innovations for the future.

Experimenting with technology amidst the problematic funding of a newspaper was also discussed. Mills said the "advertising-only model" won't work. "Who pays?" asked one attendee . It came down to expanding the definition of a journalist to include the duty of marketing.

"Many understand that the problem with the business model is that it is connected to the technological model and to the journalism content," Fogel said. "It is a good idea to have economists working on the side and journalists building up the future. We need to work together to build up the media of the future."