digital newsrooms and journalism

Reading through the guardian this morning I enjoyed the read from Roy Greenslade who's been touring the digital newsrooms and Jeff Jarvis who's been pioneering a few digital experiments of his own in the grey area of journalism meets marketing.

One can't be downbeat, but whilst Jeff is able to call on NY suits to assess start-ups from his cohort, it's an unusual scenario within universities here.

I can't talk for all universities, but that's a generalisation from my role sitting on the professional journalism - University media course body, The BJTC.

At UCLAN, Mike Ward amd his team continue to blaze a trail with their industry tie up and MELD.

Watch this space this year as many univeristies including where I lecture, the University of Westminster, have since attained Skills Sets's academy status.

Jeff speaks of CPM, CPC and RPM - Ad speak such as cost per click etc. highlighting the oft repeated, but dodged point: "how do you intend to make money?"

Google's wrapped up this area aligned to its SEO - something else journalist will have to get their heads around - but more time spent with business grads over the next building should germinate new ideas.

Meanwhile Roy's excursions around the digital highway of newsrooms throws up some interesting conclusion.

One of them regional newspapers being at the forefront of cultural change.

In my role as videojournalism consultant I have witnessed the same.

In the last couple of years I have been privy to the going ons with regional journalists from our VJ contacts and the rest, and with nationals such as the Telegraph and Financial Times have mixed it with some of their new journalists.

The FT presents a case for more multimedia offerings with some new multimedia and videojournalism staff; it's last one about counting the cost of food was a blinder.

Soon the Telegraph's new multimedia journalists, the first of their kind in the UK, will be back within the Telegraph from working around the regions.

It'll be worthwhile taking a moment to see some of their new methods and techniques at work.