Under pressure? How to handle fast-paced multimedia reporting

There's no time to mull over notes before filing copy as a young journalist in the newsroom today.

The process of covering a story may include live-tweeting, writing a quick piece to publish online, filming video and recording audio, and then editing all your material together.

Alex Evans, a multimedia reporter at the Sheffield Star, said reporters today are "doing a job that might have been done by three or four people," and "need to be able to do all that… at the same time".

So how can reporters juggle all of this?

Yes there is pressure on you, but as a reporter there’s always an element of pressureAlex Evans, Sheffield Star

Speaking at the NCTJ Journalism Skills conference, he said good multimedia reporting is about “thinking creatively with the resources you have available.”

He said reporters should look for opportunities to create multimedia content, but also be aware of the deadlines and the requirements of the formats they are working with, like the front page of the newspaper for example.

While on the job, Evans often liveblogs a story on Twitter, writes a short story for the site, and takes notes for the print version meant to run in the Sheffield Star the following day.

But he also looks for moments to film or photograph with his smartphone.

He said the key to balancing all this and getting a story online as soon as possible is to "make it easier for yourself" by collaborating with colleagues still in the newsroom.

In one case, reporters back in the newsroom wrote a story for the website based on Evans' live tweets.

"[It] took the pressure off me in terms of what I had to get there", he said.

"Yes there is pressure on you, but as a reporter there’s always an element of pressure."

He said young journalists should be going into the industry because they "relish that challenge" and feel motivated by audiences engaging with their content.

But does producing a little bit of everything mean the quality of the overall reporting is slipping?

"It’s not about everyone being mediocre, but everyone being able to handle the responsibility of delivering any type of content any time," he said.

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