Yesterday afternoon at the annual retreat for Phillips Foundation fellows, I listened to a handful of reporters whose primary beat is the Internet. As big and as broad as that may sound, Jose Antonio Vargas of the Washington Post, Amy Schatz of the Wall Street Journal and Abbi Tatton of CNN each do an excellent job. (Bill Beutler of New Media Strategies, formerly of National Journal’s Hotline, was also on the panel.)

The purpose of yesterday’s discussion was to given the room full of Phillips Foundation fellows — many of whom are working journalists — an idea of just how dramatically the Internet has changed politics. There’s nothing new about the topic itself, but this was the first time I’ve heard reporters talk about how they’ve had to personally adapt as journalists covering the news. Vargas and Schatz, for instance, said it’s not unusual for them to travel with a video camera, prompting one fellow to ask how in a place like the unionized Journal reporters agreed to such a thing. Of course, traveling with camera is nothing new for Tatton, whose network has always been at the forefront of covering the Internet and politics. Tatton said CNN has dispatched a single reporter to states like New Hampshire and Iowa, a stark contrast from 2004, when it took a whole team to cover the state.

But no longer does CNN have a monopoly on video. Vargas spoke about his recent trip to New Hampshire and the subsequent launch of his very own video blog, which accompanies an article he wrote about Ron Paul supporters.

This particular example reminded me of a discussion I had the previous night at dinner with my college newspaper adviser Michael Serino and several former editors of The Ithacan. Michael was telling us about a new class he’s teaching at Ithaca College this semester with Dean Dianne Lynch and another professor. The class is called Backpack Journalism — for good reason. Students are given a backpack with a MacBook, video camera, digital camera, a recording device and other instruments to produce a story. After receiving their assignments, the students are dispatched to cover the story using multiple media. The classroom sessions are divided into theory and hands-on training (learning how to use Final Cut Pro, for example.)

I shared the example during yesterday’s discussion, and based on the reaction from both the panelists and the fellows, it’s not clear whether this is a good thing or bad direction for journalism. Personally, I think it’s the right approach — preparing the next generation of journalists with the tools they’ll need to tell stories. But I’m also sympathetic to the concerns voiced by some of the fellows, including one reporter who is already doing something similar. She said multitasking detracts from her reporting because instead of focusing on just telling a story in print, she also need to worry about capturing it on a camera as well.

As someone who loves to write and enjoys taking pictures — I have nearly 2,000 on Flickr since February — I’m glad to see reporters like Vargas and Schatz embrace the new approach. As the next generation of reporters emerge from places like my alma mater, journalists might not have any choice but to adapt.