Risk, initiative, persistence

You might think the news business is changing faster than ever before, but anyone who started in TV before videotape (like me) can tell you that it’s been in transition for years. John Goheen, the only three-time NPPA Photographer of the Year, has seen plenty of change in the 27 years he’s been [...]

The hardest part of the job

Reporters call it “door knocking” and most of them hate it. Joe Fryer of KARE-TV in Minneapolis, Minn., is no exception. The one part of his job that he absolutely loathes, Fryer says, is asking family members to talk after someone they love has been killed or murdered.
Even after eight years in the [...]

Webcast producing

Anyone who produces Webcasts or streams newscasts online might want to take a look at what ABC News is doing with its afternoon Webcast, called “World News.”  According to an article in the New York Times:
“It is intended in part for people who view Web pages on iPods and cellphones and ABC executives say they [...]

Simple graphics make complex stories clear

Simple graphics sometimes work better than highly-produced interactives when it comes to explaining a complicated process. The Wall Street Journal accompanied a story about kidney transplants with a series of four illustrations that walk users through the problems people often face when looking for a compatible donor. Using stick figures, arrows and very [...]

Multimedia can add diversity

“Multimedia has the power to reach a more diverse audience.  Mastering these new communications tools is how African Americans can ensure they will continue to have a voice in government and advance their own personal power.”
Speaking to an audience at Virginia Commonwealth University on October 10, the executive editor for Black Enterprise magazine, Derek Dingle, said [...]

Becoming a “director’s producer”

The best television news producers will tell you that they always try to build an excellent relationship with their directors.  Producers who realize that directors are more than “button punchers and camera callers” find their shows looking better and communicating content more effectively.
But what do directors want from their producers?  Jeffrey Blount is a veteran director [...]

Crowdsourcing the news

When Wired magazine first used the term crowdsourcing in 2006, it referred to “the productive potential of millions of plugged-in enthusiasts.” It didn’t take long for news organizations to take advantage of that potential to develop and report stories.

The Brian Lehrer show on WNYC, the NPR station in New York, now has regular crowdsourcing [...]

The power of words

We live in a multimedia world, surrounded by images, but words still have power. That’s what I took away from a Newsweek feature about two new English versions of Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.” The piece quotes one of the translators, Richard Pevear:
Words have color, shade, tone, texture, rhythm, pacing, disposition, structure; they can quote, echo, [...]

Not your father’s newsroom

“We’re in the most exciting, amazing time in the history of journalism,” says Chet Rhodes, Deputy Multimedia Editor/Breaking News at washingtonpost.com. Rhodes spoke October 8 before a crowd of students and faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University. He says in the future, newspapers or newscasts will be just one of several types [...]

Don’t drop local sports, change it

Market research indicates that sports is near the bottom of the list of reasons people give for watching local TV news. Some stations, most recently WTKR-TV in Norfolk, Va., have decided to drop the local sports segment to save money and make more time for news. Bad idea, says News8 Austin news director Kevin Benz:
If [...]