My first newspaper job involved writing and editing stories, taking photographs, printing pages, cutting galleys into strips, waxing the back of those pieces of paper and then finally placing them onto the proofs by hand. I thought that process was fascinating, yet I also was curious about other ways to possibly share information. In that respect, I couldn't have chosen a career in the media during any better era.
Since the mid-1990s, I have been an early adopter and experimenter with media forms, particularly digital content shared via the Internet. I was part of the initial wave of journalists who started trying to augment print stories with web elements. Those efforts included start-to-finish production of first-generation slideshows, podcasts and news videos. I incorporated other innovative web techniques in the evolution of print news along the way, including some of the first examples of hypertexting, interactive contests and distinct web portals and hubs related to particular news issues. As an extension of that enterprising work, my academic research today involves the distribution of nonfiction stories via mobile devices.
I also have written literally thousands of bylined stories for daily newspapers, magazines and web sites in a variety of styles. Samples of those are kept here.
Thanks for visiting!
- Brett Oppegaard
