Annenberg’s Neon Tommy reflects “new reality” for journalists, LA Times says

“A generation ago,” notes Los Angeles Times media columnist James Rainey, “journalists wrote their stories and moved on to the next thing, with someone else worrying about delivery of the end product. In today’s digital world, journalists must not only create the stories but make sure they get to readers.” The Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism’s Neon Tommy is a laboratory for those practices. Its reports by USC student journos focus on everything from the Egyptian revolution to a standing feature on food called Neon Tummy. Reporters collaborate with other news entities, and each makes sure that content is electronically disseminated as widely as possible. “We are learning all the way around,” Annenberg Dean (and CPB Chairman) Ernest Wilson told the Times. “We and other journalism schools, like Columbia and Medill, are part of an ecosystem that is changing and broadening out in ways we never would have anticipated a few years ago.”