Looking through NeimanLab’s Predictions for Journalism 2022, I came across Alice Antheaume’s prediction, which was that journalists would “remember the importance of face-to-face reporting." She pointed out that, while many journalists may have become comfortable behind the screen of virtual journalism they found themselves confined to during Covid, in-person journalism offers so many exclusive and important advantages. Virtual interviews leave room for so much to miss, such as subtle body language and facial cues. Many interviewees may also be less truthful, as it is easier to lie to a screen than to someone’s face. In these regards, it would be beneficial to journalism to return to the original methods of meeting people or chasing stories in person. To finish, Alice quoted CNN’s Clarissa Ward, saying, “You need to be in the moment to listen to what a person is telling you — it is a real engagement between two individuals, as opposed to a person reading a list of questions and doing their best impression of what listening looks like. Look at their body language and hear them.”
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