URBANA – Reporting and photography could be entering a golden age, says the new head of the journalism department at the University of Illinois.
“My belief is that people will realize what a value-added proposition journalism is,” with citizen journalists teaming with trusted institutions to offer a variety of words and images never before available, Brian Johnson said.
“People are going to be wary and exhausted, and wonder, ‘Is this a hoax?’ with some outlets,” he said. The best ones will still use many traditional journalistic techniques, combined with the latest technology, he added.
Johnson, 50, has been the interim department head since last year. His elevation is subject to campus and Board of Trustees approval.
Johnson, who has been at the UI for 22 years, still carries a camera with him as much as possible. Previously he was an award-winning photographer at The News-Gazette.
He is an expert on media technology, occasionally appearing on WILL-AM to talk about cameras and computers.
“Brian is a dedicated, diligent and far-sighted teacher and practitioner. He’s respected by our colleagues here and nationally by those in his multimedia field,” said Walt Harrington, the interim dean of the College of Media, in an email to staff.
“We are in difficult times,” he continued, “and Brian is deeply experienced in the college and university cultures. He will promote and defend journalism’s mission with vigor, creativity and intelligence.”
There were four candidates for the position, Harrington said.
Johnson said he was always interested in academia; his father served as a professor and department head at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
He said the media industry is in challenging times, and journalism education must reflect that.
“We’ll be taking a hard look at our curriculum, to see where we need to go based on what’s happening in journalism and the media industry broadly” in the digital era, he said.
“I actually feel very upbeat about where journalism is. Especially for the students, it’s really an exciting time. A former student calls this the new golden age of journalism,” Johnson said.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services