Backpack Journalism; Backpack Journalist
“Backpack journalism” describes a reporter (“backpack journalist”) who uses new technology—often placed in a backpack—to be a reporter, photographer and videographer, all in one person. “Backpack journalists” was posted on the newsgroup alt.society.liberalism on July 2, 2001. The Los Angeles (CA)
Times’ Mark Sachs wrote on May 23, 2002:
“The modern era of backpack journalism gets a sterling showcase with the pilot episode of ‘Frontline/World,’ which takes viewers well off the beaten path for stories that nevertheless resonate strongly across our global village.”
“Backpack journalists” were featured in an Associated Press story in March 2003.
Wikipedia: Backpack journalism
Backpack journalism is an emerging form of journalism that requires a journalist to be a reporter, photographer, and videographer, as well as an editor and producer of stories. There is no set definition for this practice, but it is essentially “a method using ... journalism to create powerful, intimate stories that take people beyond the boundary of their own life experience and connect them with the currents, forces and situations reshaping our world on a daily basis.” This method uses various media tools, such as lightweight laptops, satellite phones, inexpensive editing software and digital cameras to more fully engage both the audience’s intellect and emotion. Backpack journalists file material to supply the Web, and occasionally television, from locations that would be otherwise inaccessible to large news teams. Although the term originated within the sphere of broadcast journalism, it has expanded to include all areas of the media world.
An accomplished backpack journalist must be a master of new technologies, capable of fusing previously separated roles, such as writer and videographer, and able to produce a story that ensures accuracy, fairness and balance, shaped by high standards and solidified practices.
Google Groups: alt.society.liberalism
World Court rules against U.S.
Donald R. McGregor
7/2/01
(...)
If Aristide wore a uniform and said a few mildly pro-american statements every now and then the backpack journalists would be denouncing him as a savage dictator.
23 May 2002, Los Angeles (CA) Times, “Tuned-In: ‘World’ Shrinks the Global Village” by Mark Sachs, pg. F77, col. 1:
The modern era of backpack journalism gets a sterling showcase with the pilot episode of “Frontline/World,” which takes viewers well off the beaten path for stories that nevertheless resonate strongly across our global village.
25 March 2003, Honolulu (HI) Advertiser, “Technology breeding do-it-all journalists” by Rachel Konrad (AP), pg, C3, col. 1:
SAN JOSE, Calif.—
(...)
The technology has resulted in streaming video from the most remote places on earth. It has also enabled a new breed of reporter, known as a “backpack journalist,” who often has greater mobility and flexibility than a camera crew.
(...)
“Backpack journalists have to know the difference between when you’re a lone wolf and when you’re part of a greater whole—and they have to file with that in mind,” said Jane Ellen Stevens, a pioneer backpack journalist who teaches at the University of California-Berkeley.
26 March 2003, Deseret News (Salt Lake City, UT), “War coverage is high tech” by Dave Anderson, pg. C1:
The trove of new technology has created a new breed of “backpack journalists,” armed with all the necessary tools to write stories, shoot video and edit.
15 April 2003, Des Moines (IA) Register, “Journalists battle Iraq’s elements, too” by Megan Hawkins, pg. A3:
Kirsten Scharnberg, 28, originally from Everly and a former Des Moines Register staff writer, has been traveling with the Army’s famed 101st Airborne Division as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune. Now in Baghdad, she has learned what it means to be a “backpack journalist,” asking her mother to send things such as compressed air in spray cans for cleaning out computers, and glow sticks that can light up a tent when they are cracked at night.
August 2003, Video Systems (Overland Park, KS), “DV Journeys” by Stephen Porter, pg. 59:
Perhaps the biggest difference, however, is the way FRONTLINE/World chooses to tell its stories. These aren’t big budget productions produced over long periods of time by big crews using expensive equipment. Most stories are told by one or two-person crews, and virtually all are shot using small DV cameras. Rarely do they make use of sit-down interviews. They are more personal. They have an on-the-run feel that’s like a journey of discovery that the audience shares with the reporter.
“The format of all these shows is generally a reporter on a journey,” says Talbot. “We mix the best of a travelogue/adventure kind of show with very solid journalism. The LA Times called us a showcase for “backpack journalism” and that’s definitely the feel of the show. We take the audience off the beaten path to places they’ve never been before and show them unusual things.”
13 September 2005, The Guardian (London, UK), “Yahoo! hires top journalist to tour world’s danger areas” by Duncan Campbell, pg. 16:
Yahoo! announced the signing as part of its effort to provide “reporting for the new millennium”. His (Kevin Sites—ed.) style is described as “backpack journalism - narrative storytelling techniques” for the internet.
4 October 2005, Daily Record (Morristown, Nj):
Speaking to an audience of 400 at Birchwood Manor as the opening lecture of the 31st annual Town Hall of Morris Lecture Series, Dr. Bob Arnot described how the Marines found themselves pinned down by gunfire from nearly every direction.
(...)
Arnot said that he now practices “backpack journalism,“that means he carries a backpack, laptop and satellite phone as he covers a story.
Twitter
Gordon Brander
@gordonbrander
Podcasted backpack journalism is going to be huge
5:52 PM - 7 Dec 2007
Twitter
Ariedana
@ariedana
A really great post on “backpack journalism”: http://snurl.com/221eb
12:35 PM - 18 Mar 2008
Twitter
Wired Journalists
@wiredj
Jason Molinet replied to the discussion Backpack Journalism http://tinyurl.com/2tyq7e
4:02 PM - 19 Mar 2008
Twitter
Josh Leo
@joshleo
When you hear of local news looking for a “backpack journalist” what do you think of?
1:56 PM - 28 Mar 2008
Twitter
John Cass
@johncass
#sncr programmer journalists, media conductors, backpack journalists, cybrarians, community managers
4:45 PM - 23 Apr 2008
Twitter
John Thompson
@johncthompson
Re Reuters Mojos “not so much a backpack journalist as a pocket journalist”
5:28 AM - 3 Jun 2008
Twitter
Poynter
@Poynter
Al’s Morning Meeting Lessons from a Backpack Journalist: Lynn French, quite plainly, .. http://tinyurl.com/6eqvvg
2:16 AM - 25 Jun 2008
(Trademark)
Word Mark BACKPACK JOURNALISM
Goods and Services IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: entertainment and educational services, namely, presenting panel discussions, lectures, seminars, and workshops in the field of communication, namely, news in the nature of current event reporting; providing information in the field of communication, namely, news in the nature of current event reporting, via a Web site on the Internet; entertainment services in the nature of film exhibitions and film festivals; educational services, namely, instruction in the field of communication at the college level; providing educational community and outreach programs in the field of communication, namely, conducting workshops, seminars and educational exhibitions in the field of news reporting. FIRST USE: 20100212. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20100212
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number 77859549
Filing Date October 28, 2009
Current Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1B
Published for Opposition April 6, 2010
Registration Number 3881343
Registration Date November 23, 2010
Owner (REGISTRANT) American University CORPORATION D.C. 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington D.C. 20016
Disclaimer NO CLAIM IS MADE TO THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO USE “JOURNALISM” APART FROM THE MARK AS SHOWN
Type of Mark SERVICE MARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Affidavit Text SECT 15. SECT 8 (6-YR).
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