Over at Newslab, Deborah Potter has posted some valuable insights around the notion of what is termed “The TV Package”.

As a solo video journalist,  I believe a shift is required – especially for local news stations – that requires a radically new paradigm of what’s being produced for television news that needs to take place.

The TV Package, in its current iteration, needs to be put out of its misery and buried for good and replaced with a more narrative style of story telling.

News Directors & General Managers of tv stations need to grow a spine and take the initiative of producing stories in longer form, telling stories of their local communities, not the formulaic pablum that is passed off as “Experienced Journalism” on local broadcast, let alone, regional and national news reporting today.  The over stylized lighting, the multi person production crews, the perfect looking on camera personality provides nothing for the story being told.  It’s a stylized film production now instead of being a true news story.

The face of how news is consumed has changed.  The dropping numbers for viewers and ad revenues reflects this.

So what’s the answer?

I don’t have any definite ones, just my observations.  I do believe that maybe, just maybe, a different tack should be taken on how stories are produced as a good starting point.

First off – dump the old production model of multi-person production crews for the most part.  Yes, there will still need to be the occasional crew sent to cover major new stories like forest fires, etc, but for the most part, even solovj’s can do so with with the proper training from such entities as the Backpack Journalism program at American University taught by Bill Gentile.

Secondly, get rid of for example, the talking heads with their ever present, yet totally irrelevant, head nodding, etc. and start delving deeper into better story telling, letting the subject bring their narrative instead of constant voice overs from the journalist themselves.  Lose the suits, ties, fancy makeup, coiffed hair, etc.  News isn’t a fashion show.  Broadcast Journalists think portraying themselves in this way is some how professional.

In my opinion, it’s disingenuous.

Start telling longer form stories – micro documentaries if you will, maximum of 5 minutes long – engaging the viewer into a deeper story of the subject.  Give the digital correspondent more time to really tell the story – and tell stories of the community, stories that reflect a human side instead of trying to capture viewer ratings.  Those ratings will take care of themselves with solid news stories.  Give people genuine real stories, and they will soon realize they’ve been led astray by corporate news medias feeding pablum to the sheeple masses.

Train your digital correspondents that they are going to have to learn it all.  Otherwise, it’s time to find those journalists who are willing to learn to do so.  Being a jack of all trades, master of many isn’t as difficult as most think. It can be done, it only requires a willingness on their part to see it as such, learn it and then apply it.  There are many excellent resources that provide professional level training for this new wave of solo video journalists, backpack journalists, digital correspondents – however you want to define it.

And one of the most important things that needs to be implemented.  The freedom to experiment – and fail – without fear of losing ones job.  BY doing so, you learn what works – and what doesn’t.  The 21st century has brought about massive changes and to hold on to archaic ways of reporting is not doing the viewing public any favors.  QUit treating them as if they’re not capable of thinking for themselves.

Broadcast news is trying to keep what they’ve known on life support – out of fear of change.

It’s time to pull the plug and let it pass away.

What have they got to lose?

According to broadcastingcable.com, Hearst Television has signed a deal with JVC to utilize the GY-HM100 ProHD camcorder as the foundation for their rolling out their move to the backpacker journalist concept.

I say it’s about time.

Hearst is calling this move their “Next Generation Newsroom Project.”

Hearst began the pilot Next Generation project in three stations last year, and has launched moved forward this year at WPBF West Palm Beach and KETV Omaha, Neb. HEarst Television has six more stations that now use the GY-HM100 camcorders, which records natively in the .mov format on SDHC media cards. Those stations include KMBC Kansas City, Mo.; WLWT Cincinnati; WISN Milwaukee; WGAL Lancaster, Pa.; KOCO Oklahoma City; and KCCI Des Moines, Iowa.

The interesting thing is that although the camera is squarly marketed at Final Cut Pro users due to the instant support of the files from the camera file format ingesting quickly into Final Cut Pro, the stations are using Dell Laptops and using Adobe CS5 as the editing application.

Soap box moment here:  That’s dumber than a box of rocks people.

Why use a camera whose native file  format is squarely meant for Apple Final Cut Pro users and kludge it to work with what has become known within the community as Adobe Bloatware.

Hearst would be much better off using Edius Pro or Avid Media Composer.

Sorry –  I digressed for just a moment.

The reality is, the solo video journalist paradigm is taking hold, no matter how much the gatekeepers try to avoid the oncoming wave of the move to solo video journalism.

Cameras are becoming higher in quality for a lower cost.  Remove the barriers that have been artificially kept in place by the closed society that has portrayed the craft as needing overly expensive equipment and multi person crews – all of which is much along the same lines as the wizard hiding behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz.

“Why I’m glad I made the transition from ABC News off-air producer to New York Times videojournalist.”

That’s the introductory statement NYTimes VJ Erik Olsen made in an article posted on Digital Journalist – and one I feel speaks loudly above the cacophony of the detractors of self contained shooter/producers.

The changing landscape of creating video content is creating a wave of hostility around the massive paradigm shift that continues to take place – diverging away from multiperson news video production crews to self contained “Digital Journalists” or as I like to say – being a “One Man Army”.

As visual content creators, we need to reinvent what we do and how we do it.

Ive begun to edit another shooters work, who comes from the old style of shooting.  This has shown me just how threatening it can be to those who are use to shooting with several people while trying to manage all that is entailed when beginning to work in a self contained paradigm.

The quality of the work as I edit speaks for itself.  And I’ve begun to realize that for my professional colleagues, the ability to manage wearing several hats at the same time – and do it well, may end up pushing them over the edge.  Others – like myself, actually thrive on the challenge and I have found through trial and error that I actually become a better shooter/producer in the process.

Back to the article, Olsen goes on to say that:

Like any photographer, as a shooter/producer, you ultimately develop your own specific techniques, and you’re learning new ones all the time by watching others’ work…

Being a VJ means that you are totally responsible for what the viewer sees. These are your images, your words, your edits. You are usually alone in the field. And since you are working out in the real world (and not, say, a studio) where things don’t always go according to plan, you have to think on your feet.”

I have learned that this is very much the case – at least in my work.  The agility of being self contained has its rewards – but in many respects – can be more difficult and there are limitations to what you can produce.  I don’t see these as limitations as much as parameters in which I can operate effectively.

The ability to go out on my own, find a story, research it, shoot it – while not only having to maintain all that is entailed with the technical aspects of shooting a story, but shoot a COMPELLING story is the stuff that gets my juices flowing.  I know that what I shoot, how I shoot it and edit the piece, is my vision – no matter what tool I use to capture the content.

“I think we have one of the best jobs in journalism. Video is exploding online, and there is a great deal of experimentation going on with new tools and narrative forms.” says Olsen.

I think he’s absolutely correct in this statement.  The playing field has been leveled, the gatekeepers have been fired, and it is upon us to utilize this opportunity and make sure the high standard of quality is maintained, while competing in this field since many will make the assumption that they will automatically become pro’s just because of the tools they use – without the necessary skills needed to be considered a working professional solo vj.

Olsen concludes with this:  “Being a one-man band…  allows us remarkable editorial and creative control over our work. It is a real thrill to not only define and develop the narrative for a story, but also to choose the images that will go along with it, and then be able to come back and assemble them according to your own vision. Having come from network television news, where we had cameramen and soundmen and producers and editors and so on, I know that this is a rarity. But this is obviously the direction that much of the industry is going. That’s why being a digital journalist today, despite the troubles the industry as a whole is facing, is one of the most exciting and interesting occupations around.”

I couldn’t agree more

Yes – it has been awhile.  Too long To be honest.

With the economy having made many a casualty (including yours truly) of Wall Street Corporate Greed, those of us who have the passion to continue when all seems lost, have had much occur in our field of endeavor.

In that time, DSLR Video Cinematography has taken hold, proving yet again the accelerated pace at which technology can outpace ones ability to keep up in equipment upgrades.

I spent two and a half hours in a skype voice chat with my mentor David Dunkley-Gyimah recently and the insights into what solovj’ism is becoming has begun to reshape – to go through yet another paradigm shift into a realm of whether true journalism in itself can be one’s bread and butter.

Having said that – I think shooters who are looking at dslr video as the savior of the profession need to take a hard look at the profession as a whole.

I have a personal take on this:  It’s the operator, not the tool people.

Many are trying to do it all , but it’s my belief that when one tries to be everything to everyone, the end product  usually ends up being a mediocre one.

Shallow DOF is a gimmick for most – there are those complaining that they aren’t moving to it because it doesn’t work in auto focus – quit being so damn lazy.  Todays latest generation of shooters have virtually no idea of what it means to use a total manual focus setup and train yourself to follow focus.  I did it back in the day of shooting with my Canon T90′s and even the original EOS 620′s I used – I still shot in manual focus and I very rarely missed a shot – it separated the men from the boys so to speak.

Many are so obsessed with all the gear, the cameras, high speed primes, matte boxes, shoulder mounts, etc, that they’ve forgotten the true essence of  serious visual content creation – they’re more interested in looking cool than doing more with less.

It’ s time for arm chair shooters to go thru a paradigm shift – quit complaining because in essence, you’re lazy – learn to use the tools you have at your disposal – most barely use their current  tools to their fullest capabilities – myself included (I still use my tape based SONY HC7′s – they still produce technically excellent footage).  If you can’t accomplish a project with your current tools, that’s when it’s time to look at upgrading – but let’s be real here – it’s the operator, not the tool that creates compelling content.

Get over the hamster wheel upgrade cycle the camera manufacturers and the propagandists would have you buy into and get out and shoot something worthwhile.

It’s apparent to the few who come here that content has been pretty stale for the past couple of months.

With having to pay the bills as a web designer on top of marketing my video work, I’ve not had much time to blog on solo vj’ism.  Having said that, I’ve been left with a nagging question:

Have I bitten off more than I can chew by moving to video when I was a successful and accomplished still photojournalist and commercial editorial shooter?

Lately it has seemed as such.

Having to not only shoot content, but come up with story ideas, move past the creative blocks, try to deal with the technology of editing video content into a cohesive piece, and do it all as a solo vj has had me at a point of wondering whether to just give up.

I did a google search for the phrase “Is Photography dead?” which lead to a website about “Is Photojournalism dead?”and came across a profound quote from Margaret Bourke-White, a photojournalist of great reknown who made the statement that :

“While it is not necessary to return to the photography of 25 years ago, I think students of photography should work for a while with the view camera and do their own lab work”

The case she makes here is critically important in my opinion. A photographer is more likely to be familiar with the whole process, from the split second when the shutter goes ‘click’ to the hours a print hangs to dry after its baths of developer and fix (remember – this was written in 1958).

Now translate this into the 21st century of working as a solo video journalist and one can begin to see the difficulties, and in the process, the skills that develop, when making a concerted effort to do it all in this profession.

Despite the fact that these words were written 50 years ago, they are still applicable to the field of being a one man band video shooter and editor.

The downside of this is that newspapers have looked at implementing video – rather poorly in the majority of instances – as a cost cutting move, trying to squeeze more from less – and there eventually comes a point where quality suffers.  With the threat of pink slips ever present in the minds of staff shooters, the pressure to perform typically results in creative block and vision, resulting in a mediocre final product.  This in turn gives the detractors ammunition to support their case that still shooters should just stick to what they know best.

While the technology has gotten better, the average quality of having to do both stills and video is deteriorating. Giving still photojournalists video cameras is no substitution for specialized video shooters, but the question remains: What can be done?

I think the bottom line here is that as hard as many try, few will succeed in both mediums when covering an assignment.  One will be forced to choose one or the other.  There is an over abundance of talented still shooters in the market – but the demand and compensation for their skills has diminished.  The profession of solo video journalism is still very much in its infancy – but those who choose to put down their still cameras and pick up a video camera may very well have the edge over trained TV shooters – for the seeing vision of a still shooter brings a wealth of perspective that can translate to video in a way TV shooters are not skilled in.

Only time will tell if this is truly the case or not.

My cyber mentor David Dunkley-Gyimah as posted on his blog about two topics I write about about here on solovj.com – online content distribution and the business of solo video journalism.

I have been publicly ridiculed for my personal perspective of corporate news media – and the fallacy of objectivity in the news died decades ago.  This was also discussed at length on Michael Rosenblum’s blog and needless to say, it sparked an interesting dialog.

David is a maverick, he pushes the envlope in areas I can’t even wrap my head around – but the bottom line is, he has a better sense of what’s going on in this solo video journalist profession than many of the so called “broadcast tv journalists”.

Having said that – David has posted about an online broadcasting resource called Livestation.

This is a major resource for those who want to take back the ability to report stories, news, features on their terms – not the corporate media’s gate keepers.

The second part of this equation is the detractors go to argument against solo vj’ism and online content distribution -  that online content has no means of generating revenue the way mainstream broadcast can.

Finding revenue to support such ventures is a challenge but it seems that this is being ironed out as well according Mark Glaser over at PBS’s Media Shift.

With these two recent findings, those who are like minded in working as content creators in the minimalist Zen like paradigm of solo vj’ism can now look at niche programming and develop one’s own unique branding, vision, what have you of what it means to broadcast those topics that are relevant to you and those who would also find the content important enough to view.

Add to this the ability of vj’s to create their own version of local news broadcasts and the flood gates are opened up – no longer is the public fed filtered news based upon corporate news media agendas – all news will have its unique viewpoint – and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Recently I’ve begun revisiting the Solo VJ paradigm and asking exactly what it is from my point of view.

I’ve come to realize that the Solo VJ paradigm is more than just about web video journalism – at least from my perspective.

I’ve come to see it as about content creation that serves a purpose that is more than JUST about making money (although that is still an important component). A conscious realization has been slowly emerging for me that the work I have come to admire the most has been short documentary work being done for NGO type entities that tell a positive story that speaks to the human condition. And have found a purpose in the kinds of work I am shifting towards – instead of the lack of personal fulfillment that is mainstream video journalism – and all the adolescent bickering that seems to be associated with it.

In addition to the work of Travis Fox at Washingtonpost.com, I’ve come to respect the work of Denise Zabalaga, a documentary shooter working with the Global Oneness Project. The quality of her work has shown me what is possible when one uses what one has available and shoots for quality – and with a positive purpose. Much along the lines of Travis’ work, Denise’s work removes the pablum of corporate news media and replaces it with solid content that speaks of positive things in this world – instead of the doom and gloom news stories that supposedly are to keep corporate news medias ratings from slipping any further down than they already have.

Visit the Global Oneness Project Video archives and watch more of the work of Denise Zabalaga – it may very well inspire you to begin creating your own body of work that brings light into the world – instead of darkness.

I just came across an interview with Travis Fox on the USC Annenberg School for Communication.

Although the interview is a couple of years old, I have admired Travis’s work since I began shooting as a solo video journalist and feel he’s the finest solo video journalist currently producing web video journalism content.

The detractors of the Solo Video Journalist paradigm would have those who believe in being able to successfully and professionally produce quality work as a one person crew as not being possible.

Another case study disproves their argument.

Matthew Clift, an Australian videographer, has completed a 60 minute documentary that tells the story of an Australian grandmother who sold everything and ended up creating a campus that teaches over 6,500 Ugandan orphans – all while shooting in the Solo VJ paradigm.

MAtt is quoted as saying:

“A One Man Crew…
I once read that if you try to do more than one job in the production process, something will suffer. Although there is no doubt there are many benefits to having a large crew, with today’s equipment, it is more than possible for one person with a limited budget to produce a high quality feature length doco.”

The bottom line is that the Solo VJ paradigm DOES work – it only requires the willingness to understand your limitations and work within them. Matt was able to shoot and produce a 60 minute documentary shooting standard def DVX100 cameras and a specially selected field production kit that would allow him to shoot solo. In addition, he edited the completed project by himself. Not all things went perfect though. He did have to send some of the audio to a sound professional to sweeten the sound due to technical issues, but overall, Matthew accomplished by himself as a Solo VJ what the detractors feel can only be done with a multiperson crew.

Once more, the Solo VJ paradigm shows what can be accomplished with sufficient planning and an understanding of what can and cannot be done – and the end result shows:

Check out the trailer and see for yourself, then read how he accomplished this project over at Ken Stone’s site.

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Michael Rosenblum has posted what I feel is a crucial commentary that hasn’t been discussed to any real extent – that of the differences between shooting VJ content for the web as opposed to shooting for traditional broadcast television.

There is a difference and I think it needs to be expounded upon as to what I and other Solo Video Journalists do and why we do it.

The bottom line is this – at least for me, I haven’t stated to the best of my knowledge that I wanted to shoot for television broadcast news. I have eluded to the notion that what Solo VJ’s do could very easily translate over to broadcast television.

Web video journalism requires a different mindset – skills, equipment, etc. Even with my past experience as a photojournalist, I still have much to learn – and this May I’ll be participating in a two day Advanced Web Video Journalism Workshop run by Visual Editors that specifically addresses this.

This is a crucial point needing to be looked at.

Solo VJ’s shooting for internet delivery of their content, to a certain extent, have a greater freedom to experiment with shooting techniques to learn what works and what doesn’t – without fear of reprisal as typically exists in TV broadcast news venues.

There has even been the laughable comment that internet broadcasting doesn’t exist. That set into stone for me the GOB (Good Ol’ Boys) club of video shooters that prevent the very industry they want to save from moving into the 21st century. News is being consumed in multiple ways from multiple sources. TV news no longer rules the roost.

As I posted recently on the Home Theater Personal Computer (HTPC), viewers will not only obtain news content from TV, but web connected HTPC’s which will be able to acquire content from the internet – either streaming or in downloadable form, allowing for a more diverse range of news sources. In addition, the news will start becoming less neutral (and neutered) and will begin to take on more of a viewers political perspective that will allow the news outlet to target their content – and advertising – to that particular demographic. Technology is already being implemented that allows the viewing of streamed DVD quality – and even High Definition – movies over the internet – that same technology is going to allow news content from numerous sources to be consumed in the same way.

As much as I detest it – Fox News (I prefer to call it Fox Noise) has already established this practice – being known for its conservitive perspective on the news. Whether one agrees with Fox News or not, they have established a viewer base that allows them to distribute news and advertising content targeted specifically for their viewer audience.

The advent of internet broadcasting, which includes audio and video podcasting, opens the doors for citizen reporting in ways never seen in the history of mankind. It is our responsibility as journalists – whether professionally or as citizens, to report it with as much accuracy as possible.
These are very interesting times indeed.