When to break exclusive news and where

When to break exclusive news and where

You’re working on an exclusive story for tonight and the Web and social media team wants a piece of it, hours before air. Should you share? If you thought that question had been laid to rest years ago, think again. In some newsrooms, the answer still is, “It depends.” Brandon Mercer, news director at KTXL [...]

Is your Web video mostly just repurposed TV?

Is your Web video mostly just repurposed TV?

Of course you have video on your website. Doesn’t everyone? But what is it, exactly? Putting TV clips on the Web is a no-brainer, says NBC News chief digital officer Vivian Schiller, but it’s not a game changer. What is? No one really knows yet, but there’s lots of experimentation underway. Schiller told the Beet-TV [...]

Storytelling in 4D

Storytelling in 4D

It’s a map. It’s a timeline. It’s photos and video and text and links. But that’s not all you get from the new online tool Meograph. You can also add a voice-over to tell a complete story, with the bells and whistles providing context–the fourth dimension, according to the founders. Other tools, like Vuvox, provide similar [...]

Video journalism tips from a pro

Video journalism tips from a pro

Darren Durlach left television almost two years ago to try something new. He’d won two consecutive NPPA TV Photographer of the Year awards and, unbeknownst to him, was on the verge of winning a third. He’s now senior multimedia producer at the Boston Globe, where he shoots and edits stories both alone and in collaboration [...]

How much can one journalist do well?

How much can one journalist do well?

It’s no secret that television newsrooms are expecting more production from everyone on staff. And there’s nothing really new about reporters being expected to file multiple times a day for multiple outlets. Heck, I did that 30 years ago at CBS, filing for radio and TV. But a recent story on TVNewsCheck about this new reality [...]

From TV news to digital journalism

From TV news to digital journalism

by Holly Edgell When I graduated from Michigan State University in 1990 with a bachelor’s in newspaper journalism, I had a vague sense that I might like to dabble in broadcasting as well. I’d done a radio internship and really liked it. I was not overly excited about newspapers. The message from professors, career counselors and recruiters was uniform: [...]

How to create an interactive timeline

How to create an interactive timeline

Lots of news stories are here today, gone tomorrow. But many come back again and again, stories that have twists and turns, a history and new developments that need to be reported. Here’s one example: A crime, an investigation, an arrest, a trial and a verdict. Now consider how those stories are most often covered [...]

Tips from a prize-winning solo video journalist

Tips from a prize-winning solo video journalist

Working alone in the field can be a challenge, but it’s a challenge that Michelle Michael has mastered. Since 2003, she’s been shooting, writing and editing her own stories for the US Armed Forces Network. This year, she won the NPPA Solo Video Journalist of the Year award. What’s her advice to other one-man-bands? “If [...]

Must-haves for mobile journalism

Must-haves for mobile journalism

“Everyone should have a smartphone in the future; it’s baseline gear,” says Damon Kiesow, senior product manager at Boston.com. Speaking at the Excellence in Journalism convention in New Orleans, Kiesow said newsrooms have to get more “intentional and strategic” when it comes to mobile. “It doesn’t work to just go buy 20 iPhones and tell the reporters [...]

Good logging makes for better writing

Good logging makes for better writing

The Murrow Award for writing “demonstrates excellence in writing that conveys the feeling and significance of events to the listener or viewer.” That’s the goal of great storytelling, isn’t it? To help make the news matter. Last year’s national winner in the small market TV category was Jason Lamb of KTUU in Anchorage, AK. In [...]

New multimedia journalism textbook

New multimedia journalism textbook

Forgive me for tooting my own horn, but I’m pleased to announce the publication of the second edition of my book, Advancing the Story: Broadcast Journalism in a Multimedia World, co-authored with Deb Wenger. It’s available now from CQ Press or Amazon, and we hope you’ll check it out. What’s different this time around? The new [...]

How to get viewers for online videos

How to get viewers for online videos

There’s no shortage of video online these days; in fact, it’s become almost ubiquitous.  But if everyone’s bought in to the importance of posting video, not everyone has figured out how to get people to actually watch it. There’s no single “holy grail,” of course, but two key words are search and social, according to [...]

Data journalism central

Data journalism central

The folks at the Guardian have been doing inspired work with data for several years. Now, they’ve added a new data store–one stop shopping for anyone interested in making data more meaningful. In addition to the data blog that highlights the British newspaper’s own analysis and projects, the new site includes: • The key data [...]

Taming the multi-platform beast

Taming the multi-platform beast

The transition from general assignment reporter to multi-platform journalist isn’t always easy, but people who’ve made the switch often say they’d never go back. For Josh Hinkle of KXAN-TV in Austin, Texas, working as a one-man band makes it easier to be creative. “I don’t have to explain my concept to a photographer or editor,” [...]

New tools for news

New tools for news

Should you ditch your laptop for an iPad? Kerry Northrup votes yes. He’s the brains behind the long-running NewsGear project, formerly based at the IFRA Newsplex at the University of South Carolina, and he issues an annual list of state-of-the-art mobile technology for journalists.  This year’s list, unveiled at the SPJ conference in Las Vegas, [...]