Aspiring journalists have to work harder to keep up with technology, especially in the age of the World Wide Web.

That was what Ben Mevorach, News Director of 1010 WINS News Radio and three-time winner of the National Edward R. Murrow Award, indicated last Friday at the Sixth Annual City University of New York (CUNY) Undergraduate Journalism, Broadcast and New Media Conference and Career Fair.

“The Web is really changing everything,” Mevorach said to CUNY students and graduates in a panel discussion about the “New Newsroom,.”one of six held at conference host by the CUNY Graduate Center. Mevorach explained that with the increase use of the internet, reporters must learn to incorporate photography, audio and video, on top of knowing how to interview, research facts, and tie it all together. He stressed that journalists of the future have to understand that their efforts are now geared to suit more than one medium.

In Mevorach’s 20-plus years in the business, he has seen a fair amount of change. The most significant he said is how a reporter would cover a story.

A 1010 WINS journalist before computers became commonplace would go out with a tape recorder to cover the story and patch it through a live feed from a telephone. “You couldn’t tell the difference between a jackhammer and an ocean wave,” he said laughingly.
“Now reporters are sent out with laptops.” Reporters use a computer to digitally record their newscasts and then easily send it back to headquarters through wireless technology. The newsroom has changed so much that paper does not exist anymore—copies are sent from computer to computer via touch screen technology.

Besides technology’s effect on the newsroom, Mevorach also pointed out that the internet has changed the way consumers get their news. In the past the news used to be fed to the audience, but now consumers dictate when and where they get the news. “You don’t want us to push it to you anymore. It’s made it difficult for us to stay in touch with you.”

As a result, almost every major publication or broadcast station presently has a website to hold all of its materials as well as additional content. 1010 WINS reporters now have to bring cameras with them—to post pictures alongside the newscast for their website. Mevorach said soon enough the reporters will be sent out with videographers to allow for web newscasts.

The 1010 WINS website hosts a slew of content from audio clips of recent and archived newscasts to written pieces available exclusively on the site. It also provides links so consumers can get traffic and weather reports in real-time.

Mevorach referred to 1010 WINS becoming more than “the most listened to station in the nation,” and 1010WINS.com is just the first step.

“We are no longer 1010 WINS News Radio—we are 1010 WINS the brand.”

He predicts a future in which consumers could get their news even more conveniently than it is today. What that happens, Mevorach hopes that users select 1010 WINS to serve their needs.

The news business, Mevorach reminded the room full of aspiring journalists, is after all still a business and change is needed to keep the process fresh and appeal to a broader audience. “If we couldn’t sell you—we wouldn’t be doing this.” Consequently, more money is being invested on the web than WINS radio broadcasts with the knowledge that internet use is highly popular to the younger generations, who advertisers target.

Yet despite the growth in demand for skills needed to work in the news industry, the ability to write well remains a constant.

“Write—it always comes down to writing,” Mevorach said, “Whether you’re a reporter or writing a speech for your boss, you have to know how to get people’s attention and how to get your point across.”

The ability to tell compelling stories is what sells news. Mevorach said that especially in news radio, writing in a way that the audience can vividly see how events took place through descriptive writing is how a reporter measures his/her success.

In contrast, he said that television does the work for you. Television was once deemed as the death of radio, yet radio has overcome it. Mevorach said that news radio will remain in business despite changes in the industry. His remark has validity as 1010 WINS garners about two and a half million listeners a week.

Bringing it all back to Mevorach’s message that writing remains the most important skill in the news business. Compelling stories come from good descriptive writing—reporters are essentially the eyes and ears.

“Instead of talking to our listeners—we are our listeners.”