via NewsTrust.

Ryan Sholin is a graduate student at San Jose State University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications. He has a passionate, clearly defined and loud spoken attitude about what he considers to be quality journalism today. In response to Neil Henry, Associate Professor at UC Berkley Graduate School of Journalism, who recently deplored the effect of new media on journalism, Ryan sees the online environment and its new media as being of critical importance to the future of journalism.

In sum, among his recommendations to online newspapers is the use of search engines, like Google, and of simple database applications and news maps that allow readers to easily navigate through the news offer in search for what satisfies best their interests. Besides, newspapers should focus more on the local news, leaving the global issues to big news broadcasters. Training journalists to adapt changes and to develop more complex skills besides simply writing is also necessary. Archives and daily content should be free. Bloggers can become sources and community moderators, so the bloggers vs. journalists mentality is outdated. New delivery systems, like RSS, SMS, iPhone, e-paper, Blackberry, widgets, podcasts, vlogs, Facebook, Twitter are facilitators, not competition, so they have to be heavily used and adapted on-the-go. The journalism schools have to change their training content, emphasizing on multimedia, interactivity and data; otherwise the training becomes irrelevant and will frustrate the students in their future careers. Also, good quality journalism does not require great financial and technical resources, but especially the right mind frame, which is basically leaving the past behind and embracing the future under a new working formula.

See more in Ryan’s article.