• Multimedia Minutes: Adding Punch to Your Writing

    April 25th, 2010

    To showcase you do more than react to the news of the day, you need to write proactively.  Through transparency, take credit for what you do that’s special.  Here’s an example.

    You likely can’t turn out a story like this a day.  But the more often you can deliver on this type of fact finding, the more uniquely valuable viewers will find your stories on air and on the Web.

    Posted in broadcast journalism, Multimedia Journalism, Power Tools for TV Journalists, TV news training | 11 Comments »

  • Multimedia Minutes: What Makes a Great Sweeps Story?

    March 13th, 2010

    “What makes a great sweeps story?” is a question on the minds of many multimedia journalists.  Here are ideas based on viewer research.

    —————————————–

    From Professor Ken Kobre who teaches photojournalism at San Francisco State University:

    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

    Visit Kaplitz’s blog for free videojournalism lessons from a pro.

    Posted in broadcast journalism, Multimedia Journalism, Power Tools for TV Journalists, TV news training | 18 Comments »

  • Multimedia Minutes: Fine Tune Your Storytelling

    November 10th, 2009

    Fine tune your storytelling skills by learning from this example.  You’ll find several strong elements — including a great question — as well as ways to raise the bar.  For example, how to get two stories from one by “unbundling.”

    Posted in broadcast journalism, Multimedia Journalism, Power Tools for TV Journalists, TV news training | 1 Comment »

  • Multimedia Minutes: Last Minute Sweeps Checklist

    November 7th, 2009

     

    You work hard on them, but many of your sweeps reports likely fail to pull ratings or build your image as a multimedia journalist.  And that’s assuming you provide the promotion producer with memorable moments and strong viewer benefit.

     

    Based on our studies of literally hundreds of thousands of viewers, here are keys to success.

    Posted in broadcast journalism, Power Tools for TV Journalists, TV news training | No Comments »

  • Multimedia Minutes: How to Take Control of a Story

    November 6th, 2009

     

    You sometimes have to take control to get the best shots as you’ll see in this story with limited visuals.

    Multimedia journalist Galen Culver discusses this story at a three day AR&D training workshop at KSBY in San Luis Obispo, California.

    From a viewer’s standpoint, “Don’t change reality.”  Capture what the person does, but don’t tell him to do something else to get better shots.  TV news needs to show what’s really happening.

     

    We welcome your comments.

     

    For more Multimedia Minutes, look at Recent Posts in the column on the right.

    Posted in broadcast journalism, Multimedia Journalism, Power Tools for TV Journalists, TV news training | 1 Comment »

  • Multimedia Minutes: How to Use a Hidden Camera

    October 7th, 2009

    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

    Posted in broadcast journalism, Multimedia Journalism, Power Tools for TV Journalists, TV news training | No Comments »

  • Multimedia Minutes: For Sweeps Reveal Water Polluters Near You

    September 12th, 2009

    ny-violations1

    Online media with interactive elements can give you a jump start on investigative story ideas for sweeps.

     

    The New York Times has just provided an interactive map you can use to identify violations of the Clean Water Act, which have risen steadily across the nation.  How does your area stack up?

     

    The graphic above shows violations in the Albany, New York area.  Find the national map at:  http://projects.nytimes.com/toxic-waters/polluters/new-york?hp

    Posted in broadcast journalism, Power Tools for TV Journalists, TV news training | No Comments »

  • Multimedia Minutes: Turbocharge Your Sweeps Planning

    September 12th, 2009

    Turbo charge your sweeps planning with these tips in a two minute video.

    Posted in broadcast journalism, TV news training | No Comments »

  • Multimedia Minutes: Power Up for Sweeps

    August 23rd, 2009

    With sweeps just a few weeks away, here’s how can you can power up your targeted special reports to recruit viewers while building your brand of journalism.  The learning video, which is based on our significant research into what recruits viewers, runs 2:33.

     

    Posted in broadcast journalism, Power Tools for TV Journalists, TV news training | No Comments »