It’s the latest “must have” gadget for TV news, or so it appears from all the references I’ve heard lately to the GoPro camera. Small, rugged and light-weight, it shoots in HD and sports a wide-angle lens so it goes where other cameras can’t. It’s often used for “point of view” video, which is what it [...]
I’m of the belief that planning makes stories stronger, and I often talk about planning as the step that comes between reporting and writing that is too often skipped. An outline like the one on the left–just a few words jotted down in a notebook–helps me stay on track. The longer the story I’m writing, [...]
How’s this for a new way to train journalists? An Australian company is working on a new first-person video game that puts players in a war zone armed only with a camera. In Warco (short for “war correspondent”), players document a conflict that echoes recent events in the Middle East. Each scenario has different story [...]
A fascinating piece by Scott Jensen in the latest NPPA News Photographer magazine traces the path each of the 2011 stations of the year followed to get where they are today. What struck me was what Seattle’s KING-TV, KCCI in Des Moines, and WAVY in Portsmouth, Va., have in common. They share a similar newsroom [...]
Every time a new gadget comes on the market, someone tries to figure out if it’s as good as or better than what came before. There have been plenty of reviews of Apple’s latest tablet, comparing it to the previous iteration and to similar devices. But how does it compare when it comes to shooting [...]
Should online video follow the same conventions as TV news? Adam Westbrook thinks not. In a provocative essay, he argues that several TV news conventions were developed to help journalists work faster and tell stories in less time–constraints that he believes do not apply to online video. That’s debatable, of course. I’m not sure most [...]
The best of the best in video news are being recognized this week, as the NPPA announces its annual awards. All of the winners are worth watching, of course, but I usually start with the general news category. It’s the catchall for daily stories that are not breaking news or features. And this year’s winner [...]
When and where is it OK to shoot video without getting permission? Can generic file video get you in legal trouble? These kinds of questions come up in newsrooms all the time and often lead to heated debates. Next time, check the Photographers’ Guide to Privacy produced by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. [...]
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 [...]
We’ve all heard and seen what’s been happening to journalists trying to cover the uprising in Egypt. Some have been detained and beaten. One Egyptian journalist was shot to death while taking pictures from his office balcony on his mobile phone. What can journalists do to stay safe while still covering a dangerous story? Watch [...]
TV photojournalist Anne Herbst does a lot more than shoot and edit. She writes a lot of stories, too, but unlike other solo journalists at KUSA in Denver, she doesn’t voice them. “My husband says I sound like Kermit the Frog,” Herbst told participants at the 2010 Northwest Video Workshop. So Herbst has found other [...]
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, [...]
A good editor can make something out of almost nothing. Boring video? Pick up the pace in the edit and the viewer may not even notice how dull the shots are. A bad editor, on the other hand, can ruin even the best video. I remember–not fondly–the experience of working with an editor who always [...]
Who’s the best solo video journalist in the country? If you ask the NPPA, the answer is Dave Delozier, the winner of the first-ever solo VJ of the year award. That would be the same Dave Delozier of KUSA-TV in Denver who won the TV news photographer of the year award in 1988. In other [...]
As television newsrooms expect more of their journalists to work solo, the trend is affecting both the process of newsgathering and the product that goes on the air. Many news managers believe VJs offer more flexibility at a lower cost with little or no reduction in quality. But new research suggests it’s not all good [...]
When all hell is breaking loose, they say, the best camera to shoot with is the one you have on hand. And one lesson we’ve all learned from YouTube is that technical quality doesn’t matter all that much when it comes to newsworthy video. That said, it’s always worth the effort to capture the best [...]
Idiot-proof, lightweight and compact–the Flip camera appeared poised to revolutionize online video when it was introduced a few years ago. Reporters and photographers quickly took to using Flips or similar point-and-shoot cameras to produce Web-only video blogs and interviews. Sometimes, Flip video even showed up on TV newscasts. But now, it appears the Flip may [...]
Brett Akagi surprised more than a few people when he left a great job as director of photography for KARE and moved to what his TV colleagues called “the dark side.” As senior video producer for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Akagi’s mission was to help the newspaper become competitive in online video. The goal, in effect, [...]
Bob Brandon was a true professional and a great human being. A television photojournalist for more than 40 years, Brandon died in December at the age of 63 while awaiting a kidney transplant. Even though most people who knew him were aware that he was sick, his death still came as a shock to many [...]
Some of the strongest stories that ever make air or the Web rely exclusively on pictures and sound, with no reporter track. Putting a great nat sound story together isn’t easy. If the result is to be more than just a photo essay, you have to create a coherent narrative with the sound you collect. [...]