On March 3, 2009, Brad Kalbfeld met with our class. A journalist since the 1970s, and the author of the AP Broadcast News Handbook, he showed us just how far technology had come since he started.

As part of the presentation, Kalbfeld brought the equipment he used in his early reporting days. The first was a small typewriter, which he had brought with him on many assignments. Then came a miraculous new invention…the TRS-80, a very early computer marketed by Radio Shack. This sturdy laptop could not only save stories, but through a crude system send a picture through the phone lines. it was to send a photo back to the printers. It took 15 minutes to send a black and white photo…and 45 for color! And these things were hailed as a miracle in 1982!

And then Kalbfeld pulled out another device...something that could do all the things his bulky early-80s equipment could do, but better. The iPod Touch. It was important, he said, for the journalists to keep up with this new media. The world continually changes, and with it come new ways of taking in the world around us. By understanding how the new media works and using it to its fullest potential, the resulting stories end up vibrant and engaging.

Technology keeps raging past, and within two years the “miraculous” TRS-80 was rendered obsolete. What took 45 minutes in 1982 takes less than 4.5 seconds in 2009. What took pounds of sophisticated equipment in 1982 can be done with one iPod in 2009. Journalism continues to evolve, always having a place in a rapidly changing world.