For a while I have desired to write a column about how technological advances, particularly within the Internet, have the potential to affect the role and manner in which a reporter operates.

The Internet, as most of us have seen, has radically changed the way many businesses conduct their day to day affairs. My first observation of this was when a family I knew moved out of Bellevue because their father had a job working for a company that used the Internet for most of its work and communication. As a result, the father  had the greatest of all job benefits; he was able to pick whenever he wanted to live in the country.

So, naturally, he chose to live in Leavenworth, the most beautiful area in Washington.

Then there is one of my family friends, who used to go to work at a huge building like everyone else. Due to the Internet, however, the company cut out the unnecessary overhead costs and closed his office. Now, he has the pleasure of working at home.

Another instance which piqued my curiosity on the matter was when King County Sheriff Sue Rahr discussed the closing of Precinct No. 3 in Maple Valley. Technology, she explained, allowed the deputies to complete most of their work from their laptops in their vehicles, removing much of the need for a precinct office.

I believe that in the future, traditional media will begin to move in this direction, as well. Although there is still the ironic “Daily Planet” image of a newsroom, with people either running around or pecking away loudly on typewriters, the reality is newspapers more resemble the quiet cubicle environment of Office Space.

The trouble with writing about this was that I could never find a specific example of how reporters have done this which was applicable to the area.

Thanks to the snow storm last week, I do.

Although I was able to make it down to Maple Valley on Tuesday and Thursday, the weather conditions kept me in Bellevue for most of the week. Fortunately, I was still able to call fire departments and the Washington State Patrol, as well as receive updates about the weather conditions of the roads. Modern technology allowed me to publish my stories online and follow hour-by-hour updates on the Washington State Department of Transportation website, as well as Tweets by local fire departments. Even though I wasn’t able to get my car out of my own neighborhood cul-de-sac, I could keep people in Maple Valley, Covington and Black Diamond informed of the situation (those who had power, at least).

I see journalism, specifically community journalism, moving to the point where newspapers won’t have an office in a traditional sense. Reporters and editors won’t begin their day by coming into a specific building. They will operate out of their homes and cars or wherever they choose to set up their work station, resembling a freelance reporter lifestyle. Now that phones have Internet access, stories can be allocated through email and Skype will allow editors to hold meetings and conferences with their reporters at any time or location.

I can’t predict for certain what will befall print versions. Frankly, I think national and international newspapers will eventually all go online. But regardless there will be a shift, gradual or dramatic, towards online publication. This will have a huge impact on the concept of “deadline.” Rather than trying to finish a story to make a press deadline, reporters will have a “deadline” defined by the timeliness and originality of the story.

Also, with phones now acting as little computers, at some point reporters will be able to interview, write, photograph, film and publish, as well as update their Facebook and Twitter accounts with their phone.

Like everything in life, I see this future bringing with it both a blessing and a curse. The blessing is that it would allow reporters to cover issues during a crisis, like the snow storm, when they might not be able to do otherwise. Had I lived in Maple Valley, I may have lost power and not been able to do much of my work, either due to a lack of electricity, or because I may have had other distracting issues to deal with it, such as a tree falling down on my house. This has also allowed less people to do more work with greater speed and efficiency. The massive downsizing of newspapers has been due to the fact that reporters are now required to be a jack-of-all-trades who can write, copy-edit, photograph and publish.

The potential curse, however, is putting all one’s eggs into a single basket, that basket being the Internet and phone satellites. If Internet or phone connection goes down, a newspaper can find itself in a bit of trouble.

There is also the potential that it could contribute to poor journalism skills. Some news outlets may try to use technology as an excuse to never actually visit areas they report on, culminating in a noticeable disconnect between the media and the community.

And much like book publishing, it can lead to an influx of people who think because they have a camera, some basic writing knowledge and the capacity to publish online that they are a journalist or reporter.

Ultimately, no matter how technology changes the face of journalism, some aspects of reporting will remain the same. Nothing beats good old fashion on-site coverage. A community needs that presence in order to trust its source of news. This is why I’m not worried about reporting jobs getting shipped overseas and one day having a man from India call up a woman to talk about the shooting she witnessed at the corner drugstore.  Nobody wants to read articles about a boy winning a county fair hot dog eating contest with a writing style akin to a service manual.