Backpack Journalism Online

A post at Mindy McAdams's site called my attention to Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone, a website where the intrepid backpack journalist Sites chronicles his year-long mission "(t)o cover every armed conflict in the world" using a backpack full of high-tech gear to produce multi-media narrative reporting and upload it to his Yahoo!®-sponsored website.

There may very well be some valuable information and compelling stories at the site, but I am skeptical of the project for a few reasons:

1. It smacks of the ego-charged, adrenaline-fed variety of reporting in which the macho foreign correspondent charges into harm's way, risking life and studly limb to get the story under fire. The prominent placement of the ruggedly good-looking Sikes's photo on the website further promotes this image;


2. The project promises in-depth reporting and involvement in finding solutions to the problems Sikes covers, but covering 20 international armed conflict zones in one year (which apparently he did) cannot give any reporter the context needed to fully understand an international story. This sounds like journo-tourism rather than deep reporting, much less problem solving;


3. I'm all for celebrating the communicative potentials of new media technologies, but this project seems like one big advertisement for techno-gadgets. Wanna be a macho reporter just like Kevin? Then check out the list of gear he carried on assignment and get started shopping. I'm a bit surprised the list doesn't include links to buy each item from Yahoo! I'd much rather there were a focus on the application of technologies, rather than just the technologies themselves. A bitchin' gear kit does not a good reporter make.

Perhaps I've been harsh on Kevin and the Hotzone crew, but I think it's important to point out the issues I've raised. I'd be willing to listen to other perspectives, but as I said, I'm skeptical...