Journalism educators and fellow competitors have been keeping a close eye on WUSA, Channel 9, in Washington; the station will roll out its plan early this year to do away with traditional two-person TV news crew in favor of the one-person multimedia journalist. This is the first major market TV station to adopt this new concept and practice of multimedia journalism, and is viewed by some people as an interesting experimentation and people want to see how things eventually play out.
The Washington Post had an article on this interesting transition at WUSA. One doubt raised by people interviewed in the article is the quality of works by multimedia journalists, and they cited similar experimentations, at smaller-market stations, to back up their concerns. Another concern that comes with this transition is the salary cut; the multimedia journalist will be paid significantly lower than traditional journalists.
