Month: October 2008

Become a Web favorite

It’s a question being asked in newsrooms around the world: How do we make our Web site “sticky?”  How to we get users to stay on it longer and return often?  Northwestern University’s Media Management Center tried to answer those…

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Story planning tips

If you’re using the textbook, you’re already aware that planning is an essential part of the storytelling process. It begins as soon as you have some idea of what your story is about. Having a story plan helps you find…

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Tips on using audio

The best TV photojournalists I know shoot with their ears.  They capture great sound and they use it throughout their stories.  KARE-TV’s Jonathan Malat is one of the best in the business, but he says it took him a while…

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First job options

In the current tough economy, you may not have a lot of choices for a first job in broadcasting.  Maybe you want to work in television.  Should you take a job in radio?  And can you even afford to?  Many…

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Video shooting tips

Sometimes great pictures don’t add up to a great video news story. That may sound absurd, but it’s true. TV stories that work aren’t just a collection of great shots, they’re narratives with visual continuity. Scott Jensen, who just won…

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Tips on video editing

NPPA editor of the year Shawn Montano of KWGN-TV in Denver knows what it takes to craft a great visual story, even in a hurry.  “I like to milk a shot for everything it has,” he says. “If I can…

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Writing opens and closes

For many TV reporters, the hardest things to write in any story are the opening and closing lines.  The result is that many of the stories you see on the air are really just middles.  They don’t get off to…

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Work fast to be first

Reporter Jason Whitely of WFAA-TV in Dallas is a self-described online junkie who loves to work fast to feed the Web.  Most of what he does online is not a job requirement. “I do it on my own because I…

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Planning the multimedia project

Most journalists are already getting involved in multimedia storytelling on some level and a majority of them will tell you that time is their biggest enemy. In the daily crush of deadlines, it’s hard to do a great job on…

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Shooting tips for VJs

Can you really do it all? Mark Carlson, a videojournalist for the Associated Press, has no doubt the answer is yes. “I can do anything,” Carlson says. “Tell me I can’t do something and I’ll do it for you.” Carlson…

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