Journalist Mark Trahant, Atwood Chair for the Journalism Department of the University of Alaska Anchorage, visited Unalaska last week. He went to classrooms and spoke to middle and high school students about the power of storytelling and the different tools that can be used to create digital stories. 

Trahant highlighted apps for mobile phones that can enhance and simplify the process, and told students that having a voice doesn’t have to be expensive. With progress in technology, he said, the role of creating media has shifted.

In the past, he explained, big corporations controlled what was sent out to the public, with a passive audience receiving the information. But now, media is more interactive -- anyone can produce a story and reach an audience who can respond and share their own opinions and views.

On March 19, Prof. Trahant welcomed community members at a discussion on how to “Tell A Story With Cellphone.” He showed how a cell phone can be a radio station, a multimedia TV studio and even a printing press. 

Community members were awed and excited about the power they had right at their fingertips. They particularly appreciated two images the Trahant showed to illustrate how technology has changed the way humans experience life. On the big screen, he projected two images, side by side, of an audience in a concert in 1990 with hands waving in the air, and a concert in 2010 where practically everyone had a device, be it a cellphone or tablet, raised high and pointing at the stage. 

Trahant's trip out to Unalaska was sponsored by the University of Alaska Anchorage.