Gafke: New Media, Same Questions

May 6, 2001 Roger Gafke, journalism professor at the Univ. of Missouri at Columbia, gave a lecture today titled "Journalism: New Technologies, New Media, Old Issues,"

As implied by the title, Gafke explained that new technologies give journalists different ways of telling a story, but don't change some of the fundamental questions of the job. He discussed developments he's witnessed over the course of his career from "radio with pictures," or the early days of television when the news was little more than an news reader at a desk, through the additions of color, video, graphics, and live broadcasts.

The Internet, Gafke said, "promises new ways to combine video, audio, text and graphics and deliver those in interesting ways which a medium like radio or television or newspapers alone can't do. This is a very interesting time to be a journalist: you are able to play with these new technologies and figure out how to make use of them to delivery your stories."

While the tools may be changing, the underlying concerns are not, said Gafke. Journalists still must be concerned with their professional standards and with the goal of communicating information to the audience. Gafke praised the Adham Center for providing students with quality professional training and instilling high standards.

Gafke has made several previous visits to the Adham Center, Cairo, and the Middle East. His department began an exchange program with Birzeit University in 1995 and cooperates with several other universities in the region. He is an active member of the Arab-U.S. Association for Communication Educators, an organization currently headed by Adham Center Senior Associate and Professor of Mass Communications Dr. Hussein Amin.