MULTIMEDIA STORYTELLING

1. MULTIMEDIA STORYTELLING March 16, 2010

2. TODAY’S LINE UP • Some inspiration for video stories and individual news stories • Discussion of final projects and readings from Elements of Journalism and Journalism Next. • Upcoming technical lectures: Soundslides Saturday March 20 at 1 p.m. • March 23 iMovie editing workshop (need some initial video shot for this tech lecture so you can learn how to download mini-disk footage. • News critiques: Sarah and Peter • Lynette Clemetson, formerly of “TheRoot.com” • Blog posts: show me some work on your video projects and individual news projects for next week’s post.

3. SOME APPROACHES TO STORIES • The profile • Explanatory pieces • Issues and trends • Investigative • Narrative • A Day in the Life • Voices or perspectives. • Visual story

4. FOR INSPIRATION • Voice and photos • Voice, video, photos • Voice and photos—and a story that hits home • How other students do it. • And now for some humor. • Check out Interactive Narratives for more • The Kobre Guide for more inspiration • Comm 439

5. JOURNALISM OF VERIFICATION • Blogs vs. journalism • Both can be independent, but both can also suffer from partisanship. • Both can be reliable, but both can be inaccurate or deliberate lies • Both can be last, but both can be made of haste and error So how will you pursue accuracy in your haste to blog, create a video, and write a news story in the next month? What if your fellow classmates were called on to fact-check your articles?

6. JOURNALISM OF VERIFICATION • The moment that news became a commodity that is instantly and continuously available to almost unlimited outlets, the process of verification…has come under pressure. • But to maintain journalism in any form, and to continue to see it continue despite the technological changes, we must guard against this drive to publish and then fact-check. Or to publish news that comes from an unreliable source…and then simply rest on the fact that “it’s already out there.” • The “veil of objectivity.” • Instead use the method of objectivity.

7. JOURNALISM OF VERIFICATION • The importance of doing your own work…your own investigation. • You aren’t simply adding to an existing conversation…think about how you create a new conversation with the story ideas that you have. • Don’t add anything • Never deceive • Be transparent (if you interview your friends…tell us) • Rely on your own reporting. • Be humble.

8. JOURNALISM OF VERIFICATION • Keep refering to page 105 as you work on your articles. Remember you may never know who will fact-check your stories. • Remember that truth has multiple roots. Your truth about a story may not be someone else’s truth. But you can support your version of the story if you have maintained a method of objectivity.

9. REMAINING INDEPENDENT • Independence is a big issue when it comes to 21st century journalism. • We have depended on large media organizations to stand up to government, corporations, etc. With the loss of big media, are we in danger of losing our independence…or is the fractured divided blogosphere powerful enough to stand up to these forces? • Of course, this begs the question of whether big media is actually “independent.” • Independence through transparency. Make certain we know a journalist or bloggers’ allegiances—these can be spelled out in your code of ethics. • Keep in mind independence from those you are covering, independence of mind—what causes can you support. Remember to tell people where you make your money—this even more important in the blogosphere.

10. “VOICE TO THE VOICELESS” • This philosophy can lead to great story ideas. • But be careful in becoming too enamored of your ideas and your sources. • Is there anything in your blogs that you believe would make for a story in this category of being “an independent monitor of power.” • ????

11. JOURNALISM AS THE PUBLIC FORUM • The blogosphere is the quintessential “public” forum. • But what are our responsibilities as bloggers/journalists in this new open world. • Lies are half way around the world before truth gets its pants on…. • We now have an “argument culture” that far surpasses anything we have seen in past technologies. • How does the “argument culture” use the economic model of “free” to its best advantage?

12. ENGAGEMENT AND RELEVANCE • For your news websites consider how you will engage with your reader (and it might not just be me). What will draw me and keep me interested in the site. • How do you make your sites relevant—how do you create relevance in your stories so they aren’t simply a compilation of quotes and statistics (we’ll go over this more in “how to write a news story). • Connecting the universal to the personal and the personal to the universal.

13. VIDEO NEWS STORY (READ CHAPTER 8) • Storyboarding • Plan ahead • Think about the kind of shots you are going to need to tell the story well • Wide angle – give viewers a sense of what they are seeing. • Medium shots – bring us closer but still maintain distance • Close-ups…remember to zoom with your feet, not with the camera • Extreme close-ups—hand shots, instruments, important symbols for the story

14. VIDEO NEWS STORY • Build five-shot sequences. • Hands, face, wide shot, over the shoulder, creativity. • Remember to frame shots. • Avoid panning and zooming • Hold the shot and stop talking when you shoot. • Edit while you shoot. Now onto audio: Plan ahead Write a script Consider a voice over (especially when working with soundslides)