Posted by Sam McCurdy:
This week we had the privilege of having Danielle Kutchel as our Guest Speaker and her topic was 'Journalism in a changing world'.
Danielle has been a journalist for around a decade and is currently the lead writer on Berwick Star News and Cranbourne Star News for the Star News Group, based in Pakenham,
She enjoys sharing the stories, successes, passions and problems of local people and chasing that old journalism adage of shining a light in dark places.
Danielle graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Master of Journalism in 2016. While journalism as a profession is currently undergoing a number of changes, she believes that journalists still have an important role to play in the community - especially local communities - and is passionate about keeping people informed of what's going on near them.
In her informative presentation, Danielle highlighted several significant changes that have had an impact on journalism. To name a few, these included:
- recent changes that make the News Company legally responsible for any racist or inflammatory comments that individuals may make on Facebook;
- a downward trend in advertorial revenue as a result of the COVID pandemic, but an increase in readership;
- the trend to present advertisements as local interest stories;
- the influence of technology
- partnerships with Google and other platforms to supply news.
The comprehensive nature of her presentation prompted many questions from the ZOOM audience, including:
- Is there a difference between a reporter and a journalist?
- Is it always necessary to gain permission from individuals before publishing their photo in the paper?
Danielle was thanked for her interesting presentation and for her support in publishing articles about the Club's activities.
