Rise of Multimedia Journalism: Factors, Impact, Courses, Colleges & Career Scope

The rise of multimedia journalism can be described as the evolution of storytelling from just text to a combination of different media. Read this article to know more about multimedia journalism and its rise.

Rise of Multimedia Journalism

In traditional times, journalism included sharing news and information through only one media source, whether it be text in newspapers or voice on the radio. But, with the digital evolution over time, we have now shifted from traditional journalism to multimedia journalism by sharing news or stories through a combination of images, words, audio, video and graphics. The main reason behind this change is the growth of the internet and technology. Check this article to know more about the rise of multimedia journalism, along with courses, skills and job options in multimedia journalism.

Rise of Multimedia Journalism

Multimedia journalism is a type of journalism in which journalists use multiple media formats to deliver one news story. This way of news sharing is more engaging and helps journalists interact with the audience effectively. With the rise of technology and digitalization, they can easily create and publish news or stories from anywhere and at any time. Earlier, a news piece used to be scheduled for print or broadcast. But now one single news can have a written report, photographs, videos, audio, podcasts, documentaries, and interactive maps, graphics, or data.

Factors Responsible for Rise of Multimedia Journalism

Many factors have led to the shift from traditional multimedia journalism to a modern approach. Some of these factors are mentioned here.

• Evolution of Digital Technology - Technology has evolved at a huge pace when compared to older times. Now, journalists have high speed internet, smartphones and affordable good quality cameras that they can use to make content easily. With modern technology, journalists can now edit, write, report and publish from anywhere around the world.
• Change in Audience Habits - Audience habits keep on changing based on different factors, including personal preferences, society, changes in technology, fashion, etc. In today's digital world, the audience prefers quick and real time updates and news in their hands via mobile, laptop, etc. Besides, the younger audience can be captured by sharing news or stories through videos, podcasts and short articles.
• Social Media Platforms - Different platforms like Instagram, X, and YouTube prefer video and visual content. It attracts more audience than that for print content. This is the reason why journalists and or media houses have now adapted to these platforms where people spend most of their time.
• Rising Competition in Media Industry - With multimedia storytelling, it becomes comparatively easy to attract audience's attention and retain them for a longer time. Also, giving the latest news before everyone else gives a journalist an upper hand in this fierce competitive media industry.

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What is Web Journalism?

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Positive Impact of Rise of Multimedia Journalism

With the rise of multimedia journalism, the news industry has seen many changes. Here are some of the positive impacts of this change.

1. Increased Audience Engagement - Content created through multiple media captures more audience attention than the one created with a single medium. It also encourages the audience to spend more time on the content shared and interact with the writer/ producer/ videographer through share, like, comment and feedback.

2. Enhanced Storytelling - Even though news stories created using one media can give accurate information, they cannot retain the audience for a longer time due to multiple reasons. There might be a case where the reader of an article does not understand the meaning of the words used or finds it boring because of no image. In such cases, content created by combining text, images, video and audio makes them more engaging and easy to understand.

3. Increased Credibility - With photos, raw footages and videos, journalists can give visual evidence to the audience. With this, they can gain the public's trust and increase their credibility in the eyes of the audience.

4. Wide Reach - With video, audio and text in one news story, a journalist can help the audience overcome language and literacy barriers. For instance, a person who cannot understand the language used in audio can read through subtitles, or a person with hearing impairment can watch the video and read subtitles to get the information.

5. Quick and Real Time Reporting - Multimedia journalism uses various digital tools for the creation and publication of news. These tools help multimedia journalists report live updates and breaking news through social media platforms and mobile phones. They can also cover the news on the spot to share real time news.

6. More Career Options - Multimedia journalism not only gives better content to the audience, it also creates more job roles such as data journalists, video journalists, podcast producers, social media strategists, visual storyteller and many more.

Multimedia Journalism Courses

Below is the list of undergraduate, postgraduate and diploma courses that will help a student become a multimedia journalist.

• BAJMC 
• BMM (Bachelor of Mass Media)
• BMS (Bachelor of Media Studies)
• Bachelor of Journalism 
• Diploma in Journalism 
• Diploma in Photojournalism
• MAJMC
• PG Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication

Colleges for Multimedia Journalism Courses

Here are some of the top mass communication colleges in India for courses in multimedia journalism.

Multimedia Journalism Skills

To become a successful multimedia journalist, one must posses the following skills.

Career Scope in Multimedia Journalism

There are a number of job opportunities in multimedia journalism. Check this table to know what job options one has in this field.

Read More:

• Salary of a Content Writer in India
• Top 10 Mass Communication Colleges
• Difference Between Mass Media And Mass Communication
• Salary of Journalists in India