video journalists - a WIKI discussion

WKRN, the local ABC affiliate in Nashville is using the video journalist model of gathering news. Here's a spirited WIKI discussion regarding the topic plus links to Apple's involvement with coursework that follows -

Says Michael Sechrist, GM of WKRN:

"Today's newsrooms despite all the technological changes that have occurred in our business are still running essentially the same way they did when broadcast news began in the '50's. Using smaller cameras and laptop editing allows us to make long overdue and exciting changes to the way news looks and is covered. We will embrace the technology and what it allows us to do and not fear it.... We see the VJ model as a way to increase the amount of news we can cover and report on, which will differentiate our brand from our competitors while attracting a larger audience."

The stations are equipping their VJs with Sony Z-1 HD cameras, Dell laptops and Pinnacle editing software.

Pity the pioneer. The trail-blazer might be first to latch onto an idea, but that also means those defending the status quo see a bull's eye on his head. Thus it is for Michael Rosenblum, called a "prophet" and "guru" in the quotes on his bio but also derided as a profiteering con-man by readers of the Lost Remote blog after a recent Q&A.

Rosenblum's idea is to bring "video journalists" to TV newsrooms and beyond, one-man bands that can report stories, shoot digital video, edit it on laptops and broadcast it. His client list already includes the BBC, New York Times TV and Oxygen, and he is currently helping to train VJs at local TV stations such as KRON in San Francisco and WKRN in Nashville.

Rosenblum sells his vision to station management by promising to cut the cost of production by 20 percent to 70 percent with no loss in picture quality or storytelling. In fact, he argues that TV news can improve by giving many more people the tools to tell stories rather than the four or five news trucks full of equipment that limit what they can cover.

But critics see him as the ultimate snake-oil salesman, breaking down the longstanding cameraperson/on-air personality duo and threatening the jobs of traditional TV newsgatherers while cozying up with cost-conscious management.

discussion continues on video journalists

Apple Digital Campus Curriculum offers a Video Journalism Course

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