Video, not Flash for newspaper reporters

[...] Earlier, I said — more video, less production. [...]

I for one don’t like those flash “powerpoint-like” stories. I think to show the photo gallery or video is much more practical/usefull.

What about Flash as a way to frame and present video, audio, and slideshows?

What about interactive infographics?

I think there’s a place for Flash in online news, but yes, video is certainly easier to get started with, requiring nothing but a camera and iMovie.

Ryan, All video should be served through a Flash player. I’m not saying Flash infographics or story telling doesn’t have its place, but when resources are limited, video is a better bet. Or to put another way, if you’re not rocking and rolling on video yet, do that before you invest in Flash.

Robb, check out http://www.bakersfield.com/multimedia — a good portion of the video is shot with point-and-shoot cameras. More and more, they are editing (in this case, I’m defining that as something more involved than a one-stream clip). One-stream clips can be shot and posted in minutes, not hours.

Like anything new, training is important. When I’m training, minimum requirements are 1) Pay attention to lighting; 2) Pay attention to background; 3) Pay attention to background noise; 4) Frame your shots well; 5) Watch what you say while shooting (best not to vocalize at all); 6) As a good question that will elicit an interesting response (if it’s an interview type of situation).

There are times, however, where you’ve got to get the news — just point and shoot and hope for the best. That’s a more on-the-fly type of situation.

John, given the unsubstantiated nature of your comment, I’m not surprised you choose to remain anonymous.

But, um, I’ve written that check before.

And I bet you I’ll write it again, and again.

That Panasonic is a great combination of quality, small size and light weight, and its wide-angle Leica lens supports the first (only?) photojournalism rule I ever learned: “Get closer.”

But even an older Canon Elph (under $150 used) can do surprisingly good-enough sound & pictures for some online uses — and in “portrait” format if you want.

Instead of (or in addition to) buying a pile of cameras, how about an in-house class for “verbal” reporters on recognizing when video could contribute to a story? Also, framing a picture, shooting digital video and playing “what if” — all using whatever little cameras they already have (or can afford to put) in their bag or pocket. The realities of juggling a notebook and camera — and working with the word and picture parts of the brain — are worth another course, and a lot of trial and error.

Any pointers on those issues would be terrific…

Bob in Knoxville

[...] I guess I started the debate (with this post), so I guess I should answer the questions posed by Mindy McAdams, even though Bryan Murley has already done a fine job. [...]

[...] I think our disagreement is somewhat related to the Flash vs. Video debate of a couple of weeks ago. Since it’s my blog, I get to frame the debate a little bit (kind of hard not to do if I’m going to write about it), and how I see it is an argument over the definition of quality, and an argument over whether we respond to the audience or make some sort of journalistic ideal of quality paramount to what people seem to respond to. [...]

[...] It also reminds me of what I said before about not buying a lot of expensive equipment — instead, outfit your newsroom with point-and-shoots … and use the left over money to arm local people with cameras. In other words, don’t loan the cameras — give them away … they’re cheap enough and enough will fall into the right hands that you’ll get some good stuff regularly. 9. Mix up professional and citizen reporting [...]

[...] Howard Owens started the conversation with this post. It’s been expanded on Mindy’s blog and my own. [...]

[...] Going back to another memory, I think of the first post I ever did encouraging newsrooms to equip reporters with point-and-shoot cameras. It was comical the level of hostility my old posts aroused among many otherwise level-headed journalists.  I’ve gotten pretty hot under the collar writing about this topic, as have others.  But the bottom line is, it still doesn’t make sense for newsrooms to get a case of GAS. [...]

[...] got to heartily but respectfully disagree with a post on howardowens.com about Flash and video for newspaper sites. It sounds like he’s saying to just forget about multimedia packages [...]