The New New Journalism

Although information technology came into being a couple of decades earlier I entered the job market, "New Journalism" was one of the reasons I became a writer and editor. I grew upward reading Hunter South. Thompson's stories in Rolling Stone. Yes, there were lots of drugs, but also politics, music, and the unmistakable voice of the the author.

What was "new" then is merely journalism now. The media industry is in crisis, no doubt, but there has probably never been a better fourth dimension to observe long-form, personality-driven journalism. Hard every bit it is to make a living equally a journalist, the pages of The Atlantic, Harper's, The New Yorker, and Esquire are all the same filled with skilful reads. Except at present, most people read those stories online.

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The old journalism has had a much tougher time in the Internet era, though. Click on a story, and Google News serves you 100 more than stories roofing the same topic, ofttimes with the same facts and photos. In that location is but no reason to scroll down. Anyone writing stories that don't appear above the fold is finding it difficult to pay bills these days. Indeed, the most significant differentiator among news stories is the ideology they serve. We used to call those stories "editorials."

To succeed in media, you need to bring some unique value. That could be new facts, but those are easily copied and not copyrightable. The value could be a unique voice and perspective, just that is reserved for the nearly talented among usa. Just await at the scores of failed Thompson impersonators as proof (myself among them).

Technology is providing a new frontier for journalism, however, and virtual reality at at the very edge of it. In this month's comprehend story, PCMag'south Terry Sullivan tours the latest experiences in virtual reality (VR) journalism. These aren't games or demos—they're immersive, engaging depictions of the nearly important stories of our fourth dimension.

What is it similar to be deafened? The New York Times can bring you in that location. Where are 860,000 Rohingya refugees sleeping at dark? Al Jazeera can bring you there. When do you beginning to lose your mind when you're confined in a 6-by-9-pes jail cell? The Guardian tin can bring y'all there. (A project called "Notes on Blindness" was the inspiration for the encompass of this issue.)

PCMag has written much about VR hardware and games, just the existent power of virtual reality may lie in bringing us closer to reality. It isn't always pretty, merely it has the potential to effectively foster empathy and learning in a world made weary by besides much of the same information.

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Nigh Dan Costa

Dan Costa

Dan Costa served as Editor-in-Chief of PCMag.com and Senior Vice President of Content for Ziff Davis from 2022 to 2022. In that time, he oversaw the editorial operations for PCMag.com, AskMen.com, ExtremeTech.com, and Geek.com. Dan has appeared on local, national, and international news programs, including CNN, MSNBC, Trick, ABC, and NBC discussing new technologies and their touch. He was also the host of the Fast Forward podcast, where he interviewed CEOs, technologists, and artists near living in the time to come, available on Apple Podcasts and anywhere fine podcasts are given away for gratuitous.