You know that age-old adage, “no news is good news.” Well in the case of CNN, I will have to disagree. Instead I would say one journalist is better than no journalists, making the new adage, “One journalist reporting the news is better than no journalists reporting the news.”

CNN announced [1] this week that the news organization would be assigning ten journalists to ten different cities to cover the news. These journalists are going to be ‘flying solo,’ meaning they will not be accompanied by a photographer, a cameraman, or anyone else that would assist them in their reporting duties – these journalists will be doing it all.

In an age when newspaper bureaus are slashing jobs like it’s going out of style and news agencies are downsizing once-plentiful satellite offices into nonexistence, CNN has adopted a new strategy to keep live reporting alive. These ten journalists are being deployed to cities where CNN has not had reporters stationed up until now.

This type of cost-effective reporting makes it possible to have more journalists in more places, which will lead to more reporting, more views on an issue or event, and the public being more aware of what is going on across the country. With local and regional media consolidation occurring across the United States, it is commendable that some news agencies are deciding to put more feet on the ground in more locations. This obviously does not make up for the short- and long-term effects of media consolidation, but it is most likely better than the status quo.

I think one of the main concerns about utilizing this type of reporting is how it will affect the journalist doing it. Because the journalist will not only be responsible for reporting the story, but for editing it, producing it and taking video of it, quality is a concern. Will the quality of the reporting suffer due to the “one-man band” gig? Some say technological improvements in this field and proper training will allow journalists to yield the same quality product as if a team of four were working together as in the old days, while some say the new bureau-of-one arrangement may not be as good but will suffice [2]. Either way, I would rather take the story even with less production quality as long as the reporter gets the facts straight and gets the story. Hopefully, CNN and other news outlets that use this type of reporting will fully support their journalists in this endeavor and help them to succeed in this new age.