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Topic: What place does Flash have in journalism?
| Author | Message |
| Bree | Posted – 12/4/2008 5:09:25 PM | show profile | flag this post Hi, I've been thinking about taking a few courses in Flash CS3/Actionscript in order to increase my marketability in Journalism. I just wanted to know what place does Flash/Actionscript have in online journalism? What can I do using Flash and Actionscript on the web for multimedia websites that commonly use content management systems? |
| foodlit | Posted – 12/4/2008 7:22:39 PM | show profile | flag this post It won't help you market yourself as a journalist. It will help if you plan to be a developer. Only developers and web design people use Flash/Actionscript/Flex. Depends what you want to do. |
| foodlit | Posted – 12/4/2008 7:24:19 PM | show profile | flag this post I place Actionscript developers, usually they are Computer Science majors who also have core Java development skills and also know Flex. None of these people are journalists. There is a demand for them though, so if you shift gears into development you'll always have work. |
| Bree | Posted – 12/4/2008 7:36:59 PM | show profile | flag this post Flash minus Actionscript? Okay, you are right that many web developers use flash and actionscript, and that is what I expected at first. But by doing some research, I came upon this book called Flash Journalism. It teaches online journalists to create online multimedia packages using Flash in content management systems. I haven't read it though, but I take it that Flash definitely had a place in online journalism minus the Actionscript (not print journalism). But the book was written in 2005, so I'm not sure how much has changed since then. Has anyone else in online journalism used Flash? |
| Louisewasnothalfbad | Posted – 12/4/2008 11:53:44 PM | show profile | flag this post The book exists to sell copies. In all of the "case studies" on the website, those Flash bits were added by someone other than the original writers/reporters. In a story on OJR, most of the people quoted were web producers and/or photogs. http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/050922mcadams/ |
| Bree | Posted – 12/5/2008 12:13:21 AM | show profile | flag this post Maybe I should explain. . . I know that reporters and writers don't use Flash. But what I'm asking is if anyone in the Online Journalism/New Media field would use it (which includes web producers, online editors and internet managers for newspapers that have a web presence, like nytimes.com). Maybe I should have phrased my question better. My degree is in Journalism, but I want a career in online journalism, and just wanted to know if it was worth the time to learn Flash and if there is a place for it in the online/new media industry. I hope my question is a little more clear now. |
| Marie | Posted – 12/5/2008 1:20:35 AM | show profile | flag this post Yes, it you want a job on a Web site, it's helpful to have these skills. But if you're approaching these sites as a writer and editor, it's not needed, and you could get slugged on the production side (there's nothing wrong with if that's what you want). |
| Letterbox | Posted – 12/5/2008 5:30:05 AM | show profile | flag this post It probably couldn't hurt, though Flash is pretty specialized software. It's kind of the dividing line between production and editorial. You'd be better off learning Dreamweaver and html well enough to hand code when needed. |
| aoscruggs | Posted – 12/7/2008 1:43:39 AM | show profile | flag this post Flash and journalism is a great combination. I was really happy to see this thread. I'm a writer who learned Flash at my community college. It's an amazing tool for all sorts of educational, interactive content. You can use flash for journalism without having to learn a lot of actionscripting. I haven't finished the course but I've learned to make: A website on segregation that started with a flash movie - no video - and segued into webpages. An interactive quiz for students in my local urban journalism workshop. (See this example on www.history.com http://www.history.com/genericContent.do?id=57117) Your writing skills will help you because you know how to create a narrative and a story line. If you want to see good flash journalism, check out that amazing series the Detroit Free Press did on the song "Respect." The newspaper in Roanoke, Va., also uses flash. Check out their series on "The Crooked Road" at roanoke.com Please email me offsite. I'd love to communicate with a journalist who is interested in using Flash. |
| Marie | Posted – 12/7/2008 11:04:49 AM | show profile | flag this post Thanks to the previous poster. Now you've got me interested in learning Flash. I'm going to look for a course at one of the NYC community colleges. I have a Web job, and to follow my own advice, Flash couldn't hurt. |
| chucho | Posted – 12/7/2008 12:08:55 PM | show profile | flag this post Graphics reporting is something more pubs are seeking. Graphics reporting is a nexus of journalism (because you are expected to obtain info to use for your graphics, and even formulate graphics reporting ideas), editing (because you have to be correct and scrupulous in your facts, figures, calculations, spelling, grammar and punctuation) and graphics design (because you need the computing skills, especially Adobe Illustrator's graphing function and building Flash embeds). The idea graphics report is probably something like 20% reporter 30% editor and 50% graphics designer (including Flash-y stuff) -- but I'm just guessin' on those portions. I would presume the most ideal hires have a lot more experience on the graphics design part than on the journalism part. |
| Bree | Posted – 12/7/2008 2:23:49 PM | show profile | flag this post You see. . . You see, I knew Flash had a place in journalism. It would only benefit to learn it, especially during this recession. I know just about everything else (xhtml & css, CMS, dreamweaver, Illustrator, photoshop, etc.), so I just need to get Flash out of the way and start job hunting. Thanks to everyone who posted something, I now have the insight that I needed! |
| Mark S. Luckie | Posted – 12/9/2008 2:39:33 PM | show profile | email poster | flag this post One more note on Flash... It's tempting to write off Flash as just for developers, but if you'll notice in the jobs board, most of the journalism jobs available are for online reporters. Learning Flash will help separate you from the ever growing pack of journalists competing for the same job. I'd suggest checking out Interactive Narratives for great uses of the medium. |
| Louisewasnothalfbad | Posted – 12/10/2008 7:27:31 PM | show profile | flag this post But Flash is just the software. Take a class in making a short film or screen writing--that'll help with structure. There's way too many lousy Flash animations and slideshows out there that work technically but are duller than dirt. |
| aoscruggs | Posted – 12/11/2008 12:20:57 AM | show profile | flag this post Learn Flash in a Design Department, not an IT department I agree with the previous poster about bad animations. But if the first poster started off as a writer, then s/he already knows how to create a narrative. You don't want to have to learn another program, and then migrate to Flash. I took my Flash class in the design department. I learned to storyboard, etc, right in Flash. It cut down on some steps. |
| Louisewasnothalfbad | Posted – 12/12/2008 5:59:05 PM | show profile | flag this post Writing a news story and writing a script aren't the same. The pictures tell the story, and if you're not writing to the pictures, the animation/slide show/film doesn't work. |
| aoscruggs | Posted – 12/12/2008 11:50:51 PM | show profile | flag this post Louise, I'm not just talking about writing a script I'm talking about a story line that would be told through images, audio, motion graphics and animation. |
