Briefcase Journalism

I'm not sure whether or not this backpack journalism is here to stay, but I will say this: just a few years ago, the big thing in journalism was briefcase journalism.

Just after Sept. 11, the first images to come out of Afghanistan were wired not through satellite but by videophone. It was a brand new technology back then, this $10,000 equipment that one reporter could operate in the field to transmit grainy footage of breaking events from the field. (A link to an article about the videophone is here.) The entire videophone could fit inside a briefcase. CNN popularized the videophone just five years ago, but these days, the equipment doesn't exist anymore. It's been taken over by better technology that can transmit sharper images in less time. The newest, hippest technology circa 2001 is now obsolete in 2006.

So when I start thinking about this backpack journalism, I first wonder what the new technology is going to be five years from now, in 2011. If backpack journalists can adapt to it, then these journalists should be here to stay.