Comments on: How VJs are changing TV news

By: What was learned from a two-year study on VJs « Through the lens

What was learned from a two-year study on VJs « Through the lens — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 21:42:19 +0000

[...] co-worker sent me this link today from NewsLab titled, “How VJs are changing TV news.” It was written more than a [...]

By: Deborah Potter

Deborah Potter — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 11:18:08 +0000

The debate continues. Thanks, Steve, for your insights. I agree that flexibility is one of the keys to making a VJ system work. And I appreciate One Man Band’s comment that many stations still expect solo journalists to work with older, heavier gear, which adds to the challenges they face. Eventually, they’ll transition to lighter gear but in the meantime, it’s a tough slog.

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 14:04:05 +0000

Ive been a OMB for nearly 17 years. For a brief time I did what used to be the normal set up. Photog and reporter. I tired very quickly of trying to please prima dona reporters and trying to teach newbies right out of college what to do. Skills they should have picked up in class rather than spending their time trying to make a demo tape for job interviews.

I would never go back to the old way. I have a freedom now that was never there when working the old way. Yes, its harder, yes I sometimes wish there was someone else to make the contacts and set up stories but its all part of the gig now.

I do have it easier than most OMBs, I dont have to do packages very often…most of my stuff is vo/sots and move on to the next story…run and gun. I dont care a witt about packages ….Im all about breaking news.

I guess part of the success of my OMB is that the station has assigned me a reporter “on call”. If I feel the story warrants a package, I talk to the desk and they send a reporter out to meet me, so its really the best of both worlds. Maybe if some of the stations that have gone to OMBs tried this method and tried to be a little more flexible, then we might see more success with OMBs.

By: cesar

cesar — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 18:00:53 +0000

It is true that the tv station now day prefer to hire a one man band , because the lower cost to produce stories , with one person you have a entire pkg every day . it is a new lower standards that we are seeing now day . they want quantity , not quality, i will tell you why .
what a journalist do is to point the camara where the accion is , also edit in a flat style the pkg . why do i say that ? well , do you ask your self how much time does it take to form a good photographer or editor ? only to see if the person is going to have the talent to understand the language of the camara , to deliver a visual speech or how much time does it take to get to know the proper use of the diferents lights to create something meaningful to our eyes , or edit any pkg as a piece of art .
If you ask yourself , what do you remember after seeing every story , problably you wont remember the words that the reporer said , you got to know what was it about in general , but what you really will remember are the images and the sound and the way the pkg or the report was presented to you ,the way it touched your mood .In that moment is when all of us say HOOOO , GOOD JOB.
NOW , i will tell you about the writing , five question is all you have to respond , WHEN , WHERE , WHY , HOW AND WHO . once you have that clear and use a little imagination you are able to write a script, of course , there are people who write very well and others not .
this is for all the managers who want to go cheap, every reporter when they want to look good they will look for a good photographer , a good editor , and at the end of the day that is piece that they will show with proud .
any journalist who started shoot and edit, and set up a set of lights as a one man band knows if he or she are are going to do the job in a profesional way or they only will show flat images , as all of us have seen them so far. but we say nothing because we respect them too.

By: One Man Band

One Man Band — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:31:30 +0000

As a OMB reporter I agree that the smaller cameras are much less work to lug around. However, many of you are forgetting the dozens of stations (mine included) that still use the traditional 30 lb camera (with shotgun mic, mic receiver, battery, light, etc…). Then tack on the 15 lb tri-pod and light kit and don’t forget to somehow take notes, respond to emails, tweet and call at the same time. Is it impossible? No I do it every single day. However, it sure is hard word and for someone to say otherwise is ignoring the facts.

As a OMB, I use every minute of every day. Like most of my colleagues, I do not have the luxury of writing my web story and 11 p.m. vo/sot as my 5 and 6 p.m. pkg’s are edited. I do it all and work very long days because of it. I also have a hard time lining stories up because I’m working on that day’s story from 9:30-7:00 p.m. By the time my day is done, most every business is closed and very little can be setup in advance.

Am I complaining, no. I love this job and I knew what I was getting into. However, it does bother me when people cite OMB’s for being lazy or just a complaining bunch. We have a tough job and we have the right to discuss what some of the everyday challenges are.

By: Anonymous Reporter

Anonymous Reporter — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 05:42:53 +0000

As one of the old timers put it, “Cameras don’t cover stories, reporters do.”

You can put a fancy consultant’s label on a one man band, but at the end of the day all you have is someone who can’t cover breaking news.

By: Michael Humphries

Michael Humphries — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 01:57:38 +0000

It’s not so much the weight of the little cameras that’s the problem, but their ergonomics. Unlike a big camera, which lets you use your whole body to support/steady it when doing handheld work, all the weight of the little cameras is at the end of your arms. I’ve been a news photographer for more than twenty years and have always used full-sized cameras but I have freelanced with the small cameras when I worked part-time at a local concert venue a few years back. It’s *much* harder to hold a little camera steady than it is with a full-sized one and, after an evening of shooting handheld (2-3 hours), I was much more tired than I had been when my employer had larger rigs.

And that was with a “naked” camera, with no shotgun mic, light, wireless receiver, etc strapped to it (like in the photo above). Once you start adding that kind of stuff, the “lightweight” camera really isn’t one any more and it doesn’t surprise me that VJs are starting to report health problems because of it. I’d hate to use one for ENG work.

To echo Lenslinger to some extent, I’ve toted the big rigs for a long time and the physicality of the job is the least difficult thing about it for me and I’m definitely no gym rat (my main form of excercise being grudge-carrying).

By: Mary Angela Bock

Mary Angela Bock — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:10:31 +0000

Hi all — thanks for weighing in.

Wayne — yes, your experience of being able to shoot for yourself is reflected in some of the interviews I conducted with VJs. The problems enter when individuals are asked to turn a piece a day or more.

Jim — this is a book-length project, and the highlight here does not have the space to contend with the relationship between the physicality of the job and the product. The VJs who mentioned the “workout” of their day were not complaining as much as noting how different it was. Not a single one of my sources should be maligned for being a tenderfoot. More often, the real “body” issue is one of getting that body from place to place in adequate time to shoot and make deadlines. That IS a legitimate source of stress and it DOES have an impact on story selection. And no, it doesn’t take two years to figure out that a camera is heavy, but it does take two years to research and write a book.

Lenslinger — see above. And perhaps, before slinging the word “Fail” at the research, you might consider reading it.

I understand my previous post didn’t have a link for my address — it’s bock — at — kutztown.edu

– Mary

By: Deborah Potter

Deborah Potter — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:00:30 +0000

Stewart, I don’t think the research cites the physical issues as an impediment to quality. They’re just noted as one of the things VJs have to deal with. As someone who started in TV before videotape, I have to agree with you and Jim that today’s gear is light as a feather by comparison to what we had back then.

Mary Bock says she’d be happy to discuss her findings further with anyone who wants to get in touch.

By: Let’s Get Physical… | b-roll.net

Let’s Get Physical… | b-roll.net — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:39:00 +0000

[...] my blue-collar upbringing, or maybe it’s my learned disdain for academia – but a recent study really chaps my batteries. Actually, the study has some merit, for in elucidating the obvious it [...]