Tuesday evening at the Smith’s house. Mrs. Ann Smith walks briskly in to the
kitchen. She reaches for the remote, and the kitchen television roars to life,
snapping her attention to the monitor.
As she lowers the volume, she flips through her iPad’s cookbook,
futilely attempting to find a recipe that will appeal to her three difficult
eaters.
Moments later the dog begins to
bark, signaling that her husband John is home.
As he enters the kitchen, Ann is greeted with a peck on the cheek and
routine questions about her day. His
inquiries are muffled, however, by the children’s bickering in the next
room. With a sigh John grabs the laptop
off the counter and proceeds to the family room.
Following the argument, the Smith family
settles in to their nightly routine. Ann’s attention is pulled from the countless
recipes to the face of her favorite anchorman with the sound of the newscast’s
opening tune. The sound is also heard around the corner on oldest Smith child’s
smartphone and on John’s laptop. Lucy races to the kitchen to grab the iPad;
even the youngest Smith seems to be captivated by the tune.
“Welcome to this edition of the XYZ
evening news. I am Bill Johnson, and here is a look at tonight’s top stories.”
Following the day’s highlights, the
screens pan from the news anchor to the selection menu, allowing the individual
to personalize his or her viewing experience with just a click, scroll, or
touch of a finger. Breaking News, This
Day in History, From the White House and Beyond: US Politics, The World Around
Us, Science and Technology, Cultural Highlights, Sports and the Stories Behind
the Triumphs and Losses, and The Neighborhood Watch: Local News are among the
titles filling the selection menu.
With a click of the remote, Ann
selects “Breaking News.” This eclectic broadcast enables her to watch in-depth
reports of breaking news from around the world dictated by reporters who truly know
the area. By using live footage and real-life responses, these reports become
not about the action; rather they are in the action.
As John surveys his options, he is
struck by a report on the most recent political scandal in Europe, a story John
has been following since it first broke.
With the touch of his mouse, John is drawn into the history of political
corruption in the area, giving background to the report that has continued to
intrigue him. With detailed reports and
investigative journalism, XYZ serves as a watchdog and an educator for the
masses.
Ethan and Lucy scroll through the reports for
the evening, skimming the archives to see if any past stories interest them as
well. Ethan’s eye is caught by the name
of the rising football star that he has followed since the athlete’s college
days. The story looks not only at his
team’s recent victory, but also at the intense training that led them to that point. This holistic style of reporting is a common
thread in XYZ’S broadcasts. Without
knowing the full story, one can never fully understand another’s actions.
Lucy sits just a few feet to his right, intently
watching her screen as historical experts explain the impact of past events on
the world today. After the “This Day in History” report comes to a close, Lucy
finds herself back on the selection screen, enabling her to view as few or as
many other reports as she desires, in the order she wishes, when she wants, all
with the touch of a finger. News no longer is a detached event; viewers decide
when, what, and how they watch the news, engaging them with longer stories reported
from the middle of the action by cultured journalists. Interactive broadcasting
is you; it is I; it is the future of media.
My experience in journalism is limited to my
high school newspaper, where I served as a contributor for three years, and an
editor for one. As editor-in-chief I not only edited articles, I also
controlled layout and design, which was done in Publisher.
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