Interview with the “Chaskor” editor Ivan Zassoursky took place in Aghveran city, Armenia, where he, as an expert, conducted the new media workshop for Armenian journalists. The interview touched changes related to transformations of the traditional media.
Question: You are famous as a reporter, blogger and an expert in the new media. How will you present yourself?
Answer: Just a journalist.
Q: Anyway, do you deal with blogging?
A: The thing that I comment or post on Facebook, doesn’t at all mean that I am a blogger. Today everybody is on Facebook. I have a blog on Lifejournal, but I use it rather for the posters of my newspaper articles.
Q: What is the journalist’s role in the free new media environment?
Interview with the “Chaskor” editor Ivan Zassoursky took place in Aghveran city, Armenia, where he, as an expert, conducted the new media workshop for Armenian journalists. The interview touched changes related to transformations of the traditional media.
Question: You are famous as a reporter, blogger and an expert in the new media. How will you present yourself?
Answer: Just a journalist.
Q: Anyway, do you deal with blogging?
A: The thing that I comment or post on Facebook, doesn’t at all mean that I am a blogger. Today everybody is on Facebook. I have a blog on Lifejournal, but I use it rather for the posters of my newspaper articles.
Q: What is the journalist’s role in the free new media environment?
A: Journalists have a tremendous role: they are organizers. Previously we were asked to write, take photos and represent them. Now, not much is demanded of us. We should just organize, that is, be careful and aware of the events to inform the public about and cover their opinions. In fact, people are interested in what others think. Now journalists should take over a trainer’s role just from the organizational point of view.
Q: As far as many started to post on social networks…
A: Let them write, much are the sources, the better is for the journalist. And if the sources both write and take photos, then we are lucky.
Q: You show new radical approaches in today’s media environment. Is it the warranty for the media survival under the present situation?
A: I don’t use any radical approach, but just try to survive, so I cannot be conservative. The conservative world is not for men like me. We should always think about something new to survive, to have our place. Fortunately, I succeeded it on the Internet and managed to somehow settle down. However, I believe, the media will henceforth survive, since the blogs will not replace the media, and bloggers can partially replace journalists.
Q: That is, you believe the traditional and the new media will continue to simultaneously survive and function?
A: I think, yes. Anyway, there are, of course, regional, central, and global or other types of medium and all of them have their rules. Regional media consider that there is no need of sites, or that people know so little about the Իnternet and new media that they do not imagine whether they need a website or not and how it can be used to write their stories, to communicate with their colleagues in other regions, to read their articles and to exchange information. If they are unaware of these, they, surely, cannot do anything. Meanwhile, afar from the regional media, nothing can be done without the Internet. If you are not on the Internet, people can even forget about your existence.
Q: During the seminar you compared the media organization with an orchestra and the blogger with DJ. Does it mean that today, everyone can deal with music?
A: Moreover, everyone does. This is the peculiarity of the new reality. Previously everybody used to come to the concert and watch the only dancing couple. Perhaps many were good in dancing but everybody sat and didn’t move or do anything. The couple was dancing and everyone watching. And what is the situation today? You go to the disco clubs where everybody dance, and, I consider this to be better for people, since everyone “is trained”…
Q: Now the state is creating a licensing system, laws to control the media. What do you think, is it possible to control the new media means in the future?
A: It is not possible to control the new media the way the traditional one is controlled. It is explained by the legislation functioning in this field. If I am controlled in Armenia, then I can have a website with a Georgian domain, if controlled in Georgia, I will become a Russian website, if closed also here, I will operate on the com domain. Well, if the US disturb, I will become an Asanzh, and work in Island: it is an offshore territory of information. That is why nobody can put a final pressure on someone. It is another question that authorities will try to deprive own nation of information, like in Libya, Iran or China, but how they will achieve it, difficult to say.
Q: And isn’t it time to decrease the number of journalism departments and journalists taking into consideration the above mentioned new situation?
A: No, no, it’s just time to change the educational curricula. That is, there is no need to prepare journalists to work for newspapers thus complicating the issue of unemployment. Employees are needed, demanded for magazines. Photojournalists, cameramen…? I am doubtful about, as much has been changed from the technical point of view. Surely, one should be able to correctly take photos also with digital cameras, but I don’t think there is need of a special education for it. Special courses may be conducted or activities realized differently, which we do now at the Moscow State University. We try to teach people to do everything – to shoot, take photos, write, and do video editing – to study how to post all these materials on different platforms of the new media, to represent an announcement. That is, today the journalist should be like an orchestra, such an opportunity is afforded by the technologies and everbody can apply it. Another question is that each of us should use it skillfully. So it is very important to master these skills.
By Marianna Pepanyan and Suren Deheryan.
Source: JNews.am