Surviving in the journalism industry requires being able to do everything, Arizona Republic photojournalist Michael Chow said at the Walter Cronkite School’s latest Must See Mondays speakers series.
Chow showed the progression of visual journalism during his presentation, starting with film photography and moving through digital photography, multimedia and audio slide shows before ending with a video demonstrating how the reporting landscape has changed.
“The job I did 20 years ago is not the same job I do today,” Chow said. “The job I had one year ago is not the job I have today.”
Photojournalists and journalists alike need to adapt to the changing industry, Chow said. Encouraging the students sitting before him to embrace the industry’s potential, Chow emphasized that newspapers are not a fading forum after all.
“You always hear the term ‘newspapers are dying,’ doom and gloom all over the place,” Chow said. “Newspapers — they’re not dying. They’re changing.”
One thing that will never change is the need for quality information, Chow said. People with camera phones, bloggers and YouTubers will always be around wanting to “get their content out there,” but the information these sources present is not always credible, he said. Instead, Chow stressed the importance of being dedicated to honest journalism, which breaks down barriers and leads to more in-depth reporting.
Backed by years of field experience, Chow included photography tips in his visual lecture and explained that effectively telling a story takes planning and patience.
“A lot of people think I’m just lucky to be in the right place at the right time, but this picture actually took me several years to take,” Chow said, gesturing to a pair of high school students in the rain about to be doused by the wave of a passing car.
Sarah Parsons, a broadcast journalism freshman in the audience, said she felt it was important to be familiar with all aspects of the field and said she found Chow’s message inspirational.
“I liked the last quote, ‘Make your own path and don’t follow the group,’” Parsons said. “I think sometimes in journalism everyone tries to follow the crowd to survive but it’s the ones who make their own path and who stand out that are successful.”
Broadcast journalism junior Brian Wise, who said he attends most of the Must See Mondays lectures, said he particularly enjoyed Chow’s message, calling him “one of the best speakers this semester.”
“I was surprised because it seems people on the more technical side take the shots or do the video,” Wise said. “He does all facets of the journalism process — reporting, photographing, everything.”
Change was the theme of the night, and Chow’s enthusiasm underscored the dynamic nature of the industry.
“You will probably see more change in journalism than I’ve seen in my past 23 years, and that’s exciting,” Chow said. “It’s up to you to try and decide how information gets distributed.”
Contact the reporter at kristen.hwang@asu.edu
