From part-time, overnight camera operator in market 83 to best TV news photographer in the country in just six years: How did Nathan Thompson do it? Natural talent? Not at all, Thompson told NPPA’s News Photographer magazine. Instead, he credits…
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…
You’ve heard it before: to bring the impact of an action home, you need to shoot the reaction. Flames engulfing an apartment building have more impact if we also see the faces of people who are losing their homes. The…
For those of us who have been working with video for a long time, the concept of wide, medium and close-up shots is a simple one. But when you’re new to visual storytelling, it’s perfectly natural to ask things like,…
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…
One of the best things about awards season is the chance to see incredible work produced by some of the best reporters and photographers in the business. This year, the Sigma Delta Chi Award for large market TV feature reporting…
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…
If you’re new to video, you’re probably spending lots of time just trying to master the camera, remembering how to shoot sequences and following the rule of thirds. Now, here’s one more thing to remember — finding an angle is important in both…
More research from RTDNA/Ball State University indicates that television stations are relying on solo journalists to do more newsgathering than ever. In fact, nearly a third of stations say they use sojos more than they do two-person crews. Three years…
Sometimes it’s fun to poke fun ourselves and British humorist, and journalist Charlie Brooker is particularly good at it. In the following segment, he explains how to put together the essential elements of a TV pkg. The truth can be…
