Perhaps the most significant lines out of the New York Times article on the
Digital Press Corps, 2004 are this: "But for many reporters, such supersonic portable gear simply isn't necessary. Only when they get into the competition of the campaign bubble do they realize what they have been missing." Exactly -- ONLY when they get in the bubble. That's not a real world (and I've been on the campaign trail before). But it shows the danger -- that we let the technology get in the way of the journalism. Jules Witcover, quoted in the same article, says as much and notes that candidates won't schmooze anymore because everyone's got a gizmo that can secretly record or photograph.
This is why I say multimedia will be one of the greatest challenges for editors -- not the technology, but managing the consequences the technology can have on journalism, especially when the average reader will be able to produce much of what you can. It's going to require courage and forethought.