Gannett Stations Go Solo VJ
By Cliff Etzel • Mar 15th, 2008 • Category: The Business of VJ
According to Michael Rosunblum’s blog, an article from the Denver Post points out the ever conclusive fact that the Solo Video Journalist paradigm is happening no matter whether the detractors want to admit it or not.
In the posting, one of the stations owned by Gannett - KUSA Channel 9 in Denver Colorado, is one of those stations. Its general manager, Mark Cornetta, has stated that:
“In the old world, one person shot a story, another edited it, a third told the story. In the new world, one person would be reporter/photojournalist/editor and producer for TV and the Web.”
This is not coming from the outer fringes as the detractors would try to have others believe. This is coming from mainstream corporate broadcast news.
Newspapers need to see this as both a wakeup call and an opportunity. The realities of newspapers is that they are dying a slow agonizing death as they have been known up until recently. Statistics are showing that less and less people are getting their news from print and going to online resources for their news. They are picking and choosing how and when they want their news.
Web video is playing an ever increasing role in this consumption of news and entertainment. A recent quote I read stated what I feel is an accurate assessment for those newspaper photo journlialists who are having/needing to make the uncomfortable transition to shooting video:
“ALL methods of gathering and telling visual news stories should be and will be used….. by newspapers…and TV stations. It’s called “Convergence” And the newspaper…that thinks it doesn’t need to incorporate the best practices of TV news… will fail.”
The new breed of agile Solo Video Journalists - using smaller cameras and laptops to produce longer form, more personal stories will also have a place. They can and will successfully develop into better quality storytellers, telling stories with compelling content.
That is the essence of the Solo Video Journalist paradigm - removing the barriers so that those not so fortunate to enter into the exclusive traditional arena of broadcast shooters have the same opportunities to produce the same kinds of content that have inspired them - is there really anything wrong with that???
Cliff Etzel is a regional award winning photojournalist from the Pacific Northwest who has been a visual content creator since 15 years of age. In his past still work, he specialized in photo documentary and slice of life stories. Since discovering the new paradigm of self contained video journalism, he now focus his energies in the Solo VJ paradigm with an emphasis on people-based stories, environmental, social justice, travel and documentary work through his company, bluprojekt
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