Michele McNally

The New York Times has, for many years, been at the forefront of paper and internet integration of its product. But the revolution is only just beginning.

The paper’s Assistant Managing Editor, Michele McNally – a multi-award winner and a former chair of the World Press Photo Contest judging panel – looks forward to the day when picking up the newspaper will mean turning on, tuning in and watching those images burst into motion.

"One of our masthead editors in a recent meeting mentioned a scene from a movie – Harry Potter. You saw a newspaper’s pictures moving.

A commuter turns the pages and the images just keep changing and jumping to life. Think about it – it could happen.

We make it happen on the web – the top of the homepage can indeed move when we want it to. Or you can stop it and view single images at your own pace. Or we can make them change when we think they should. So why not?

Who would have thought just a few short years ago that you could view slideshows and video on your phone, stretching them, enlarging or shrinking them at your whim?

How small does an electronic reader have to be before we all have one? Right now someone is geeking out at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and figuring out things we can’t imagine and the demand for visuals will increase.

Even four years ago I would not have believed we would see cameras that would satisfy me with video and stills. Well they are here.

Okay - I am an optimist. Why? I see more and more platforms for visual journalism.

I see the ability to tell stories in many different ways in so many different venues. I see the page views for slideshows doubling on The New York Times website this past year. And it starts with a simple premise: great reporting and great photojournalism.

I see the demand for our original photography increasing year by year. I see a proliferation of photo destination pages on media websites – even TV ones - that have all the video they want. Readers want to see pictures, why else are we all doing this?

Readers spend more time on a website if there is multi-media. Yes that means us. The future could be measured monetarily on the time spent on a site and web-based photojournalistic experiences do that. I can really see my 16-year-old daughter getting her news visually on a mobile device – and sharing it too.

Ah, yes the business model is still admittedly in the zygote stage. Web advertising does not generate enough revenue to produce the highest quality journalism that a New York Times reader expects but the paper does.

I think the discerning reader will come to us for our content – in any way they want.

The New York Times has a core group of extremely loyal readers. It is important we deliver to them the best all around news report – and that means visual journalism too. We must maintain the highest caliber and invest in international correspondents, unrelenting political reporters, astute critics and excellent photographers and videojournalists.

We continue to reach more and more people on the web with astounding numbers on breaking news days.

Do we need new skills for the future? You bet.

Newsrooms are grappling with this all the time. Photographers need audio skills. They should learn video and video editing, script building, story boarding.

Many of the smaller newsrooms will demand that photographers do all of the above. The larger will have more flexibility.

We have dedicated video journalists but we have photographers who also do video and expect more to want to in the future. All these skills are just another way to tell stories and they will be in demand.

Today, I am writing a contract for a photographer with audio skills, a videographer and a writer - all in one journalist.

But don’t think the demand for the printed paper is over - there were lines around our building the day after November's election. It was heartwarming to see all those people waiting in the rain for a copy or two or three".