Five “don’ts” for multimedia journalists

As more and more journalism professionals find themselves working both in front of and behind the camera, many are looking for suggestions on how to do it all well.  Marc Schollett of TV7-4 in Traverse City, Michigan could be the poster child for this dilemma. Schollett not only shoots his own stories, he anchors three [...]

Get more from your social media

As we reported a couple weeks ago, one study estimates that as many as 70 percent of journalists now use social media to do their jobs.  They said they were using social media to find sources and information quickly.
Chip Mahaney is director of digital content for Scripps TV stations.  He says that Twitter, Facebook and other social [...]

CNN’s multimedia toolkit and mindset

More than a year ago we reported CNN was hiring what they call “all-platform journalists” to expand their coverage in ten U.S. cities.  So far, they’ve hired four. 
Victor Hernandez, director of coverage, says it’s because they’ve had trouble finding people who meet all their criteria.
Speaking to a crowd of broadcast journalists at an RTNDA workshop, Hernandez [...]

Why social media matters to journalists

I’ll be honest, I don’t really enjoy Facebook, Twitter or even LinkedIn. Often times keeping up with them feels like just one more chore. But, if you’re going to be a journalist, I think it’s inevitable that you’ll have to get plugged into the social media scene.
Consider these excerpts from a job description for an “Interactivity Editor” at Gannett:

Adept [...]

Shoot with your ears

There’s something missing from a lot of television and online video stories, and without it, those stories fall flat. Every picture should have a sound to convey the full experience of what it was like to be there. That’s what visual storytelling does best. But if you don’t capture crisp, clear natural sound, you can’t [...]

Backpack journalism explained

Whatever you call them–VJs, MMJs or backpackers–reporters who shoot and edit their own material are becoming more common in large market television stations. WUSA-TV in Washington, DC, was the first in a top-10 market to make solo journalists the norm. So what’s it like? Georgetown University grad student Deborah Lynn Green, who interned at WUSA [...]

Live via Skype, deconstructed

Going live on TV used to require a truck and a signal–microwave or satellite–to get the story back to the station for broadcast. Obviously, that’s no longer the case. Now all you need is a Webcam and the Internet to go live via Skype, and best of all, it’s free.
The quality may not be up [...]

New ways of thinking about online video

By Peg Achterman, University of Washington (former KING-TV photojournalist)
Given Interpret LLC’s new research and their attempt to apply a new model of engagement when analyzing users’ attention to web video, this seems a good time to lay out some general guidance for those new to the production of online video. I aim this framework primarily [...]

Multimedia time management

If  there’s one thing most solo journalists will agree on, it’s that doing it all on your own requires terrific time management skills. Most people do develop their own strategies eventually, but if you’re new on the job or just looking for a few new ideas, we’ve picked the brains of a whole group of multimedia [...]

Pros and cons of sharing news video

It’s happening everywhere. Stations from Tampa to Los Angeles are forming local partnerships to share news video. The arrangements vary from market to market, but so far stations owned by Fox, Gannett, Scripps, Tribune and Meredith have jumped into the new pools.
The benefits for the stations are obvious. Sending one photographer to cover an event [...]