AR&D Reinventing Local Media

Although few reporters and photographers are given the time for hidden camera investigative reporting, viewers find them quite valuable.  Here’s a good example. 

MULTIMEDIA MINUTES

Check out “Recent Posts” to the right for storytelling tips for multimedia media journalists.  They take only a couple of minutes to watch or read.  You can implement what you learn quickly.  Send us your comments or roadblocks.

With more than 80,000 hits on this blog over seven months from as far as China, Russia, India, Great Britain, and Australia, it’s obvious that the need for multimedia training is huge.  We’re happy this blog helps.

From Ken Kobre, photojournalism professor at San Francisco State University and author of Photojournalism:  The Professional’s Approach:

http://kobrechannel.blogspot.com/2009/10/free-tips-from-bob-kaplitzs-multimedia.html

Free Tips from Bob Kaplitz’s Multimedia Minutes

We found a terrific resource for videojournalism instruction — and it’s free!

Bob Kaplitz is a principal and senior strategist for Audience Research & Development (AR&D), a TV news marketing firm which he joined in 1980 after a distinguished career in broadcast journalism, which included reports on the CBS Evening News.

He’s created a slew of excellent short instructional videos that offer tips for improving your video. He offers these “Multimedia Minutes” on his blog.

What makes them especially valuable is that Kaplitz uses actual footage from pros, and has annotated it with superimposed text that crisply points out the attributes and deficits of various aspects of the video and audio, as you’re looking and listening to it.

It’s like having the teacher right there at your side, critiquing it as you watch.

Among his topics:

* How to Use a Hidden Camera
* Creatively Shooting Your Own Standups
* How to Take Control of a Story
* The Most Important Word in Storytelling
* So You Want to Save the Best for Last?
* How to Spice Up a Story
* How to Use Words Sparingly
* Shooting Your Own Standups
* How to Shoot a Story that’s Tough to Shoot
* Asking Better Questions with Facts
* How to Lure Viewers and Hold Them
* Action-Reaction Approach to Strong Storytelling
* From Ho-Hum to Engaging Storytelling
* A Lesson Thanks to Jay Leno & Kanye West

Avoid frustrating viewers by applying what we’ve learned from Real Time Response research, which shows their level of interest second by second.  It’s not surprising that viewer interest soars for engaging video — like weather damage.  You can see that below.  But viewers are disappointed when the story begins with a reporter standing in front, blocking part of the picture. 

We’re not showing that example, because we don’t want to make any reporter look bad.  Just picture viewer interest flatlining compared to what you see here.

Standups, which we like to call “on camera storytelling,” play an important role in storytelling.  But start strong.  Don’t get in the way of what viewers want to see.  Make your standups enhance the story through the information you provide and show-and-tell.

Learn more by watching the Learning Videos you can access through the links on the right under “Recent Posts.”  Each runs about two minutes or less.  They contain insights you can apply today.

You might also benefit from “More Time Management Tips” — a current hot topic based on the many people who have read the story:

http://www.kaplitzblog.com/2009/03/27/multimedia-journalist-more-time-management-tips/

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 UPDATE

We welcome many of new users of this blog who are from China, Russia, France, and Great Britain.  Our international visitors are pushing up hits close to more than 80 thousand, showing the wide interest in multimedia journalism and strong storytelling.

We also welcome a surge of visitors from several other domestic blogs, including www.advancingthestory.com., which represents another valuable education resource.

 – Bob Kaplitz 10.7.09

Here’s a creative way to avoid what multimedia media journalists hate to shoot and viewers hate to see — “wallpaper video.”

Learn more about how to deliver strong storytelling by watching more Learning Videos.  Check out “Recent Posts.”  Most run two minutes or less because you’re likely multi-tasking.  We respect your time.

Many multimedia journalists invest a lot of time and energy trying to engage viewers on stories relevant to only a minority of viewers.  That’s a waste of time we learn when we get second-by-second feedback on viewer interest. 

The most important concept is “relevance.”  If the issue isn’t important to viewers, find an issue that is.

Learn more about viewer attitudes and how to become a stronger storyteller/multimedia journalist by clicking on the links to the right under “Recent Posts.”  Most of the videos run under two minutes.  We respect your time and the fact you’re multi-tasking.

Many photojournalists and reporters speculate on what engages viewers and where to run their best shots.  Some prefer to leave their strongest video, for example, until the end of the story.

Through our Real Time Response research, we learn from the viewers themselves.  They rate stories and promos on interest. 

Learn how to add visual elements to a story to spice it up.  

You might also click on links in the Recent Posts column to the right to see other examples aimed at improving your storytelling.