Backpack Journalism: Observations on Digital Media’s Effect on Arts Journalism & Criticism in the U.S.

New Media Journalists tote backpacks loaded with a video cameras, laptops, audio recorders, digital cameras, iPods, and cell phones, ready and able to report news and tender commentary in multiple platforms at an instant from any location. They are proficient in story-telling in all formats: visual, audio and written. They construct podcasts, slideshows, blogs, websites, and upload them for global instant access. The effects of new media communication has had a profound effect on arts journalism and arts criticism in the United States, especially as practiced by the new generation. It is reflected in the way young journalists/critics are writing about and thinking about culture; it is evident in the way arts organizations create their websites for new audiences. But where does the arts journalist and the traditional art critic fit into this new paradigm? How has the Digital Revolution already changed the way the next generation communicates about arts and culture?