Training citizen journalists
Should news organizations try to train non-journalists to provide content for their Web sites? Lots of them are trying, but some experts say it's a total waste of time.
Multimedia planning and production
USA Today puts together some amazing online interactives with a surprisingly small staff. Just five people are typically involved in putting together major projects, says Chet Czarniak, managing editor of USAToday.com--a designer, programmer, producer, IT person and database editor. The results are often impressive, like this …
Broadcast journalists swamped by technology
New results from the RTNDA/Hofstra University study (pdf) show only 38% of TV and radio news directors say their staffs are "really on top of new technology and where they're headed." The rest have "a long way to go" (48%)or are "mostly winging it" (13.7%). The …
All-platform journalism at CNN
More than a year ago CNN announced it 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. …
Making Flip cams do more
Flip cams have proven their usefulness for certain types of newsgathering. The lack of an external mic creates challenges, but the video quality is quite high. However, the camera was not designed for getting sweeping, panoramic wide shots by any means. As the saying goes, …
Judging the success of online video
How should online video be different from what we see on TV? New research from Interpret, LLC, looked at more than 2,000 broadband Internet users between the ages 13- 54 who had watched a video online in the past 24 hours. Researchers found that …
How to be an interactive journalist
Amy Wood is a social media maven. She's on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace. She blogs, vlogs and chats. Oh, and in her spare time she anchors the news at WSPA-TV in Greenville, S.C. Why does she do it and how does she manage to get it …
Why can’t local TV win online?
OK, this is our second year of tracking this and the question still remains: Why are local TV stations nowhere to be found on the list of Online Journalism Award nominees? I mean really, when the AARP is winning more awards for great video than …
Using online video to amplify text
If you can read a text story on the Web in a couple of minutes, why would you want to watch an online video that conveys the same information? Caleb Silver, executive producer for video at CNNMoney.com, believes you wouldn't. He argues that video should …
Cool new tools for multimedia
If your goal is to make the online news experience more interactive, you've come to the right place. New tools that can help you do that were on display yesterday at a Washington conference honoring this year's winners of the Knight-Batten awards, and here's …
Broadcast narration for new platforms
By Dave Cupp & Ann Utterback Much has been written about the new and varied media platforms journalists are now asked to master, but one area that has not been explored is what delivery style works best on these new devices... ...We are no longer captives in …
Four ways of thinking about online video
By Peg Achterman, University of Washington (former KING-TV photojournalist) As a visual person turned professor, I am constantly looking for ways to hook my students on a concept and make it stick. I come from the television side of the journalism business and the definitions there …