Today I'm speaking to two journalism classes at Wichita State University about multimedia journalism, what I'm doing and ideas about what they should explore. Here's the list of links I'm using for future reference.
The basics
Print? Broadcast? Social Media Journalism
Student blogs and pages
My Kansas.com blog
Example of a personal site
Linked-In
Some hot journalism tools (of the moment)
Twitter
FriendFeed
Flickr
You Tube: Journalism Contest
The next thing you should learn: Live Streaming
Ustream
Livestream -
Create a channel and then broadcast. Easy as that.
Qik Live streaming from your phone.
Seesmic Share your work
12Seconds.TV
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Size doesn't matter: Why metrics are no longer important to my beat blog
We're both courthouse reporters. John produces " for the Colorado Springs Gazette. I do "What the Judge Ate for Breakfast for the Wichita Eagle. Like most news sites, we get metrics reports each day -- the kind that can drive old newspaper reporters nuts.
"Most of my stories are usually in the top three each day, but my blog isn't getting that kind of traffic," John said.
Neither was mine.
We discussed ways we might drive more traffic to our blogs. Then when I returned to the home newsroom, I asked web guru Katie for advice.
"Stop looking at the numbers," she said.
Katie does know best.
Used to be, back when we banged on typewriters, circulation was the only number that counted. We just figured people were reading, because we were providing important information. Now that we know who is clicking on each story, and how long they're staying, we've become disciples of pageviews. We've also learned that the weird or salacious stories get the numbers -- not always our best work.
John and I both had revelatory experiences since our visit in Indy
A courthouse source called me with a story tip. This is someone I like and value, who had never called me with a story tip in my 10 years on the beat.
"I love your videos," the caller said, talking about the 2-minute documentaries from the courthouse I produce several times a week.
I received an email from an acquaintance from the Criminal Justice Department at Wichita State University saying a professor there was using those same videos in class.
I'd call that useful content.
John had a similar story, when we reconnected via email:
I was watching a verdict in a drug trial. It wasn't a big enough case to make the print paper, so I went ahead and posted it on my blog within a minute of the verdict.
Within one minute of posting, the judge in the case stepped out of his chambers and says "I see you've posted the verdict on your blog."
That made me realize that, in a very immediate way, the blog is my connection to the court house beat. Sure, it has all the candlepower of a kitchen nightlight (to borrow a line from David Carr) but it's also my way to own this beat online.
Not that we've given up on numbers: I'm confident that the people who read daily stories off the news pages will eventually find the little extras we do. Lori O'Toole Buselt, our web content editor at the Eagle, began linking to my blog from my daily stories and printing refers to the blog in the print edition. I'm also working to add some of the best practices I've read on BeatBlogging.org
But I'm also reminded what a good friend of mine, Michael "Supe" Granda told me years ago about his life as songwriter in Nashville. In any given club, on any stage, Mike said you'll see singers and bands playing their souls out, even if there's only a handful of people in the audience.
"Because in Nashville, you never know who's out there," he said. That small audience might include the music reviewer for the Tennessean or the executive with a major-label recording contract.
Sometimes it's who's paying attention, not how many.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Getting videos even your photographer buddies will think is cool
Face it, as reporters we are still on the low end of priorities when it comes to video.
Yes, it's now a requirement for us to know how to shoot, capture and edit video stories in a multimedia world. But try arm-wrestling for equipment, and you're going to lose to the real photographers in the newsroom, whose jobs are increasingly dependent on video expertise. And they should.
I'm not one to sweat the small stuff. Online video is still an open adventure, and to be truthful, most web surfers would rather watch "On A Boat" (33.8 million views and counting) than any serious piece of news you're going to produce (200 views and hoping for more).
For the new video series, I'm using a Canon Elura 85 that our newsroom bought in 2005. I don't think they even make the model anymore. Our photo department long ago graduated to Canon HD cameras.
So I'm using the old camera no one else wants, and I'm okay with it. But it's funny, when I started asking for feedback from people I know and respect, everyone complimented the production values of the new courts vlog.
My main mentor, Stacey Jenkins, who taught us video two years ago, said I've got my lighting right. One of our most prolific videographers, Jaime Oppenheimer, said it was "awesome."
That's the beauty of this DV camera: you have control over the settings, so I can adjust exposure to the low-light situations that sometime plague the courtroom. No matter what the price, try to get one where you can switch to manual in a pinch. Also important is a jack for an external microphone. If you've got those, you can really do some good work.
What is most important for reporters shooting video, is capturing decent audio. And let me just say, the audio on your beat is better than mine. Courtroom acoustics tend to really suck. Even the television guys, who've been doing this for years, complain about courtroom audio.
I'm still working on perfecting the audio, but for the meantime, I've got a wireless mic set on loan from the photo department. It was one they're not using. Scored on that. Another tip, show an interest and work hard, and you'll have friends who will help you out, such as pointing out the good equipment that no one else is using (thank you, Jaime)
I'm still also carrying the $10.99 Nady microphone I bought two years ago. It still works great for interviews. I also pack an Azden shotgun mic I found collecting dust in a closet, which can pick up sound from across the room. My next experiment will be to use both the shotgun and the wireless to collect even better audio from court hearings.
I'm hoping not using this camera forever. We're holding out hope for some more higher resolution video cameras for reporters in the next budget. In the meantime, I'm using what I have. And I'm not complaining.
I'm finding it matters less about being a gear head and more about what you're collecting with the equipment you have. I mean, in the old days, I don't remember ever hearing good reporters complain about what kind of pen they had.
What are you using to shoot video for your stories?
Yes, it's now a requirement for us to know how to shoot, capture and edit video stories in a multimedia world. But try arm-wrestling for equipment, and you're going to lose to the real photographers in the newsroom, whose jobs are increasingly dependent on video expertise. And they should.
I'm not one to sweat the small stuff. Online video is still an open adventure, and to be truthful, most web surfers would rather watch "On A Boat" (33.8 million views and counting) than any serious piece of news you're going to produce (200 views and hoping for more).
So I'm using the old camera no one else wants, and I'm okay with it. But it's funny, when I started asking for feedback from people I know and respect, everyone complimented the production values of the new courts vlog.
My main mentor, Stacey Jenkins, who taught us video two years ago, said I've got my lighting right. One of our most prolific videographers, Jaime Oppenheimer, said it was "awesome."
That's the beauty of this DV camera: you have control over the settings, so I can adjust exposure to the low-light situations that sometime plague the courtroom. No matter what the price, try to get one where you can switch to manual in a pinch. Also important is a jack for an external microphone. If you've got those, you can really do some good work.
What is most important for reporters shooting video, is capturing decent audio. And let me just say, the audio on your beat is better than mine. Courtroom acoustics tend to really suck. Even the television guys, who've been doing this for years, complain about courtroom audio.
I'm still working on perfecting the audio, but for the meantime, I've got a wireless mic set on loan from the photo department. It was one they're not using. Scored on that. Another tip, show an interest and work hard, and you'll have friends who will help you out, such as pointing out the good equipment that no one else is using (thank you, Jaime)
I'm still also carrying the $10.99 Nady microphone I bought two years ago. It still works great for interviews. I also pack an Azden shotgun mic I found collecting dust in a closet, which can pick up sound from across the room. My next experiment will be to use both the shotgun and the wireless to collect even better audio from court hearings.
I'm hoping not using this camera forever. We're holding out hope for some more higher resolution video cameras for reporters in the next budget. In the meantime, I'm using what I have. And I'm not complaining.
I'm finding it matters less about being a gear head and more about what you're collecting with the equipment you have. I mean, in the old days, I don't remember ever hearing good reporters complain about what kind of pen they had.
What are you using to shoot video for your stories?
Monday, September 14, 2009
So then I started this video series to expand the coverage of my beat
After the Twitter experiment worked, I began searching for other ways to expand my court beat online.
What I really wanted to do is reach past the types of cases that usually made news. There's so much that goes on in the courthouse everyday, you can't cover it all. But I figured the web enabled me to go beyond what I used to do when I only had the newspaper, and its limited space, as a venue.
I always quipped that I could walk into any random courtroom and come out with a good story. Here was my chance to prove it.
So then I started this video series, which we would eventually call, Common Law.
As with most online experiments that have worked for me, Katie, was heavily involved in the initial development. My then-editor, Jill Cohan, gave it the go-ahead. She even wrote the development of the series it into my goals for the coming year.
In future posts, I'll follow my work flow and how I try to get everything done.
What made this a little easier is getting regular sources follow. That's served as the foundation for the series: I have a judge, a public defender, a prosecutor and two courthouse guards. I have to credit these folks for agreeing the jump into something that's so new.
I regularly check in with what their doing and produce 2-minute video segments which run several times a week.
I then asked for critiques from friends and colleagues, many of whom I've met through this blog. They all gave some great tips and were very positive about what I'd done. This fueled me to keep doing it and improve it.
Among them, Angela Grant, whose blog News Videographer has served as one of my main learning tutorials over the past couple of years. With this series, I got to put everything I'd learned from her posts, and her past critiques of my work, into practice.
One of our concerns in all this is that while courts offer the height of human drama, it's often delivered in the sterile, clinical confines of people talking in court.
Wrote Angela:
The reason we called it "Common Law" (Jill's title) is because we deal with the everyday type of cases that come to the courthouse -- the stuff you normally wouldn't see.
The video views are comparable to others being produced for our site, and several people have stopped me in the elevator and the hallways of the courthouse to tell me how much they're enjoying them.
But I'm always looking for feedback. If you can watch a few, when you get time, leave a comment and tell me what you think. I'm always looking to improve.
I can also see a variety of beats lending itself to this kind of treatment.
What I really wanted to do is reach past the types of cases that usually made news. There's so much that goes on in the courthouse everyday, you can't cover it all. But I figured the web enabled me to go beyond what I used to do when I only had the newspaper, and its limited space, as a venue.
I always quipped that I could walk into any random courtroom and come out with a good story. Here was my chance to prove it.
So then I started this video series, which we would eventually call, Common Law.
As with most online experiments that have worked for me, Katie, was heavily involved in the initial development. My then-editor, Jill Cohan, gave it the go-ahead. She even wrote the development of the series it into my goals for the coming year.
In future posts, I'll follow my work flow and how I try to get everything done.
What made this a little easier is getting regular sources follow. That's served as the foundation for the series: I have a judge, a public defender, a prosecutor and two courthouse guards. I have to credit these folks for agreeing the jump into something that's so new.
I regularly check in with what their doing and produce 2-minute video segments which run several times a week.
I then asked for critiques from friends and colleagues, many of whom I've met through this blog. They all gave some great tips and were very positive about what I'd done. This fueled me to keep doing it and improve it.
Among them, Angela Grant, whose blog News Videographer has served as one of my main learning tutorials over the past couple of years. With this series, I got to put everything I'd learned from her posts, and her past critiques of my work, into practice.
One of our concerns in all this is that while courts offer the height of human drama, it's often delivered in the sterile, clinical confines of people talking in court.
Wrote Angela:
Usually, talking heads are boring and do not make compelling video. But I think the way Ron is using the talking heads here is actually very compelling. Maybe it’s because the subject matter is naturally interesting. Maybe it’s the easy-to-digest format: One graph of info, followed by a short video. Whatever it is, I think it’s successful because I was able to watch like 4-5 of these in a row and I stayed interested the whole time.Taking what is usually a 20- to 30-minute hearing the editing it down to 2 minutes helps keep the most compelling information about these cases. I'm often checking back with the judge and lawyers, to make sure I'm keeping everything in context and portraying the gist of the hearings. So far, so good.
The reason we called it "Common Law" (Jill's title) is because we deal with the everyday type of cases that come to the courthouse -- the stuff you normally wouldn't see.
The video views are comparable to others being produced for our site, and several people have stopped me in the elevator and the hallways of the courthouse to tell me how much they're enjoying them.
But I'm always looking for feedback. If you can watch a few, when you get time, leave a comment and tell me what you think. I'm always looking to improve.
I can also see a variety of beats lending itself to this kind of treatment.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
60 sites in 60 minutes: stampeding the SPJ Convention
Jeff Cutler and I were overwhelmed by the response to our session Saturday at the SPJ National Convention.
"Site Stampede: 60 web sites in 60 minutes" drew a large, lively crowd anxious to learn what we'd linked to around the web.
You can download a copy of the links (.doc) and Mitch Davis posted a series of videos, for those who couldn't attend.
We're hoping to do it again next year in Vegas. And if you come across any sites we missed or want to explore more, let us know.
"Site Stampede: 60 web sites in 60 minutes" drew a large, lively crowd anxious to learn what we'd linked to around the web.
You can download a copy of the links (.doc) and Mitch Davis posted a series of videos, for those who couldn't attend.
We're hoping to do it again next year in Vegas. And if you come across any sites we missed or want to explore more, let us know.
And now I return to where I started as a multimedia reporter
I come back to this blog, and really I realize I never should have left. This is where I started my journey into a new era of journalism that many my age found frightening.
I feel like I've come a long way in the past two years. I made many new friends. I discovered Twitter, which brought me to a new level of reporting and may have saved my career.
I've talked to journalists around the country about how I use multimedia and social media to do my job. I've sought out others and tried to learn from the best.
My experiment with SPJ that moved me to leave this space was so successful the organization made that blog their own for a new committee on digital news that I was proud to help initiate. It's great when something that started to just chronicle my learning has such value for others. It was sad to leave that blog, but that didn't mean leaving blogging.
So I return here, where I started.
May others find this and jump in, because one part of this new era of journalism I've really learned to enjoy is not writing for an audience, but having a conversation with friends.
I feel like I've come a long way in the past two years. I made many new friends. I discovered Twitter, which brought me to a new level of reporting and may have saved my career.
I've talked to journalists around the country about how I use multimedia and social media to do my job. I've sought out others and tried to learn from the best.
My experiment with SPJ that moved me to leave this space was so successful the organization made that blog their own for a new committee on digital news that I was proud to help initiate. It's great when something that started to just chronicle my learning has such value for others. It was sad to leave that blog, but that didn't mean leaving blogging.
So I return here, where I started.
May others find this and jump in, because one part of this new era of journalism I've really learned to enjoy is not writing for an audience, but having a conversation with friends.
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