Multimedia Minutes: Tips from the “Front Lines” for Overcoming Challenges

A frequent question from MMJs is:  “How do you overcome challenges to great visual storytelling?”

We presented these key points during a recent AR&D webinar for multimedia journalists.

If you plan ahead, you’re in a better position to anticipate challenges. 

You can even come up with a Plan “B” — a backup plan if things don’t work out.

Several MMJs say they try to have a “hip pocket” back-up story they can always turn.  Of course, that only works if you can wait a day or two to cover the original story.

If you must go with the original story, you can cut it down to a voiceover.

Jeff Westlake, KVOA-TV (Tucson) MMJ, says you need to be resourceful. 

At the last minute, he was able to “save” a story about trees.  Jeff rushed to a Home Depot store to find a “real person” to add a human angle.  You can only shoot a tree from so many angles.

Come to think of it, home improvement stores are a great place to find people angles on those stories.

You can see the story here:

Multimedia Minutes: Overcoming Challenges — Finding a “Real Person”

This entry was posted on Friday, July 30th, 2010 at 7:59 am and is filed under broadcast journalism, Multimedia Journalism, Power Tools for TV Journalists, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

9 Responses to “Multimedia Minutes: Tips from the “Front Lines” for Overcoming Challenges”

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