The End Result November 2, 2008

I finally had the opportunity to put all that I’ve learned to the test as the time came for us to produce our final projects. I believe I mentioned in an earlier post that my group decided to do our project on homeschooling.

We were given a month to produce a website about our topic. I think the hardest part of the entire project was actually deciding upon a topic. After that, our journalism skills kicked in and we came up with tons of story ideas or components for the web.

After we decided on the components we would include, we began to set up interviews to gather information. The Home Educators Association of Virginia gave us a lot of information we needed and were very helpful. 

Our goal for the website was basically for those fairly unfamiliar with homeschooling to leave the site a little more knowledgable  about the subject. Through our research we found that most people typically think of homeschooling in the following way: (See video below)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM6uqj0_jQc

 Many people think of it as a joke and an illegitimate way of schooling. But through our exploration I found out more than I ever knew about it, and I was a prior homeschooled student myself.

The hardest part of the website was probably the techincal side and making sure that everything was uploaded correctly and was able to be played from any browser. We used Dreamweverto upload our site. We really didn’t run into too many problems. The only thing that I would have done differently is allowing ourselves more time to perfect the website. The journalism was solid and very in-depth. The most important part, aside from the journalism itself, is the presentation. The two go hand in hand. The web is a very visual medium. I would say to upload your site, or a test page, at least a day or two before your deadline to make sure all the kinks are worked out.

After completing the website and having people explore it, I watched to see if the information was easily accessible. While everything seemed easy to find from my point of view, since we were the ones that put it together, that may not be the case for others. I recommend after you think you are complete, have a friend explore your site to see how user friendly it is.

And now the longly awaited website….  our site Don’t forget to check out the vuvox!

An Evening at the Post October 26, 2008

Chet Rhodes, Assistant Managing Eidtor for the Washington Post Online

     We recently took a trip to the Washington Post’s multimedia department where we met with Assistant Managing Editor Chet Rhodes. Rhodes oversees the production and editing for WashingtonPost.com. Contrary to popular belief, the The Washigton Post and the Washington Post.com are two separate entities (for now) housed in two completely separate locations.

    We begin our discussion by talking about the Post as an news organization and how its divided. Washington Post Media owns Washington Post.com and Washington Post (the paper). Being that we are becoming mulitmedia  journalists, We visisted the buidling that houses Washington Post.com.  The traditional Washington Post is where you would find the traditional reporters and editors but Washington Post.com is where you find the video journalists and web producers. The Washington Post currently has about 600 reporters and the job of the online division is two package the information found by the traditional reporters at the Post. 

     The types of video being produced in the interactive media division ranges from short quick videos to full length documentary styles. Rhodes puts each of the videos they produce into categories, which he refers to as tiers. 

             Tier 1: Short videos of a scene or event, usually referred to as b-roll. This video must work with text because otherwise, viewers may not understand the context of the video.

             Tier 2: a little longer b-roll that uaually also incorportes an interview, which can also be referred to as a VOSOT.

             Tier 3: Longer narrative, documentary style formats.

Rhodes has also been a part of the initative to help train print journalists becime familiar with video cameras. As newspapers continue to loose thier flare, they are constantly looking fot new ways to gain more audience interest. Rhodes said the biggest battle he is fighting is in changing people’s perspectives of the newspaper industry, more specifically the Washington Post.com. His ultimate goal would be for people to stop thinking as the WP.com as a place for just text stories but a place that provides them with video and also text. Here’s a video I found of Rhodes talking about his new intiaitive of training print journalists.

http://mindymcadams.com/tojou/2008/chet-rhodes-talks-about-washington-post-video/

He also showed us another multimedia resource that the Post has actually incorporated into some of their own work. A website called vuvox.com. It allows you to incorporate images, graphics, videos, and texts into an interactive presentation. Here’s an example of how it can be used.

http://www.vuvox.com/collage/detail/0ae00a98a

October 19, 2008

I guess it’s expected that when you even venture into the territory of learning a new skill, things will go wrong, especially when it involves technology. One of our assignments were to begin and maintain a portfolio website. For some reason, this has been the most difficult assignment for me for one simple or not so simple reason… technical difficulties.  So what do you do, when you don’t know what to do and no one really has the answers you need… You research!!! After all that is our occupation. As I mentioned in my earlier posts, we are using dreamweaver. We were taught the basics, but little did I know, that in order to maintain a professional site. There was a lot more I needed to learn.

So I found a great resource online by Adobe that goes through the basics of introducing users to CSS.

http://tv.adobe.com/#vi+f1481v1421

The link above is the first lesson, which you can then use to follow the subsequent lessons. The trainer does an excellent job of explaining Dreamweaver from the bottom to the top. I have definitely learned that while you  may not know all the answers there is someone out there who does and an answer to almost every question can be found on the web. Happy surfing!

Ethics and Multimedia October 12, 2008

We’re bombarded with ethical mention in our journalistic lifestyles, whether we encounter it personally or hypothetically. As journalists we should constantly be concerned with ethics, however, the waters get a little more murky as we tread into the realm if multimedia. The problem or maybe the caveat of the web is that information is never really lost, it’s will always be available or archived in some way to be called on at a later date. 

However, the concern with the archiving system of the web is that as more and more news organizations begin to use the web, at times some stories may only appear on the web only.  Most stations enforce the rule that corrections must be featured on the platform they were first disseminated. This is probably a just decision, but discrepancy comes when the same inaccurate article may be pulled back up without finding mention of the accurate article. Also another concern would be when older information is not correctly dated and gets confused as current information. This recently happened after a newspaper published information that United Airlines was in danger of bankruptcy, ultimately leading to a massive drop in the company’s shares. We definitely need to be careful when using the web as a source.  You should always check the date published as well as making sure its a credible site. We can also help contribute to the solution by making sure that all of the material we produce for the web is clearly and correctly dated.

We also need to be careful when allowing users to comment on our work or the context of our works. Users generated comments although they may not be a direct representation of your sentiments can alter people’s perception of you as a journalists ifs mentioned on our under your work. Be careful to monitor what you allow people to post on your websites and you may even want to limit what users can say.

Privacy is another concern on the web. I’m not even sure if anything is truly private on the web because there will always be someone able to hack into confidential information on the web. Be careful what you publish, publishing can even be what you transmit in an e-mail. You should always be extra conscientious on the web because your personal information may prove to be not so personal after all.

Web Design Basics October 6, 2008

Dreamweaver is Adobe

As multimedia journalists it is important that we have a basic understanding of web design. As the field of journalism continues to evolve into a multimedia medium, its important that, at the very least, we know how to put content onto the web. One of the requirements of our graduate program is that we create and maintain our own personal websites to house and showcase our projects. While this was a great idea, it was also a lot more difficult than most of us had expected, considering that we’re amateur web designers.  There is a lot of thought that should go into designing a website even before one begins the process.

The first thing I suggest before even attempting the design process is to think about some of your favorite websites you’ve seen in the past and what makes these websites stand out in your opinion.  Some of my favorite websites include cnn.com, as far as professional websites go. As for amateur websites, Wall Street Journal’s reporter Elva Ramirez portfolio site is an excellent example.  What makes these websites great, are the simplicity of the site. Simplicity tends to give sites a more professional feel. After you have evaluated in your mind, what makes a good website, you know have a basis for establishing what you would want your website to look like.

The next thing I then do, is design a dummy page in photoshop or even using pen and paper, that illustrates the design I have in mind for my website. Its much easier going into the design process with a plan you’re trying to achieve.  We are using Adobe’s Dreamweaver software to design our websites and it’s pretty user friendly whether you know html or not.  There are also other web design software available and google is the best source for finding answers to unanswered questions.

A few rules to consider when preparing to design a website is:

1. Simplcity is key

2. 3 Click Rule: users should be able to find what they are searching for in 3 clicks or less.

3. Global navigation: Its good to have a global navigation on each page so that users no where to look for your links. In addition to this, repetition and consistency is key.

4. Have fun and be willing to try things, it can always be changed and altered later.  Exploring is the only way to learn.

Storyboarding the Story September 28, 2008

In my visual journalism class we are preparing to produce a major multimedia project. The part that usually concerns me the most is not the reporting, because that’s the most enjoyable part for me, but the headache is in brainstorming and figuring out which elements should or should not be included and how they should be presented…storyboarding!  I think with most projects the most difficult part and arguably the most important aspect of the project is the defining the topic. Reason being, is the topic must be narrowly defined enough making it possible to be covered in a specified amount of time, yet broad enough to include multiple elements.

The topic we eventually decided upon was totally different that what we initially thought. However after consulting with more experienced counsel, we realized that the story we were thinking about covering provided no new information to our viewers, thus proving my first point. The first thing to think about when storyboarding or brainstorming the idea of your multimedia project is the audience and what they will and should gain from your reporting.

The idea that was ultimately laid to rest, was a time-line outlining the major historical moments that have and will occur during the 2008 Presidential election. The criticism is, what information are we presenting that is new. While it may be interesting to provide such important events in one place for users to explore, it didn’t hold any real news value. So the topic we ended up settling upon is homeschooling. I know, I know, this title may also seem a little trivial at first. However after a quick google news search, I found that there were numerous current news stories involving homeschooling, causing the topic to in fact be newsworthy. Then we had to somehow narrow the topic into one that could be covered comprehensively in the specified amount of time we had to cover it. One sure fire way of doing that is to localize the story. so that’s what we did. We decided to do an evaluation of the homeschooling system in Virginia and compare that to the traditional schooling system to see, if in fact, home-schooled students are more advanced that traditionally educated students.

So, now that the topic was figured out, time to brainstorm ideas of what needed to be researched and included on the website. To do this, we began by listing questions we had or things we would like to know. Usually if we have questions about it, more than likely, someone else does to. After writing down our questions, we then started to research the best way or persons to answer these questions. Those people, organizations, and groups became our sources and/or characters.

After figuring out the questions and the best sources, we then began deciding upon the best way to present our findings and thats how we then came up with our potential elements. Now, I say potential because they could always change depending upon what we find in our research. You should always be open to change in your research, because you should go into every story unbiased and let your answers guide the elements you use.

Thus, I consider this week’s class to be another helpful lesson on my journey to becoming a multimedia journalist!

Here’s another good website providing info on storyboarding: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/adrian_mallon_multimedia/story.htm

Oh yeah, just as a side note, we also learned about a really cool website called wordle.net. It allows you to copy text into a text box and it converts the text into a word image using the most prominent words in the text. It’s really cool!

Continuous News in a Multimedia Environment September 21, 2008

     So in today’s class we talked about continuous news and the way it would work in a multimedia environment. In traditional news environments, if it were tv the anchors would stay on air until the situation subsides or until there is no new information to report. If it were print, the paper would have already gone out for the day so they would immediately begin to prepare for the following day’s edition making sure to update readers from where they left off. But in a multimedia world, there’s a entirely different way of thinking.

     Multimedia journalism allows journalist to update information as quickly as updates are received, using the web. Reporters can report things from the field and and either feed info back to the station of even stream and update the web themselves on site. So today’s task was for us to continuously update a blog on the topic of gas prices. Recently, gas prices have spiked after a hurricane unexpectedly hit the gulf coast. 

The first step in multimedia reporting is storyboarding and figuring out exactly which elements would best convey the information to your audience. Unlike traditional journalism, we aren’t just limited to one medium rather we have the ability to combine different elements to make the final project more interactive.

     So we decided since working with gas prices the best elements would include:

1. Public commentary  because it would show how the public is dealing with issue.

2. A audio slide show showing alternative means of communication would be interesting.

3. A map showing where the cheapest gas station are located.

4. A tool that allowed users to report where they find cheaper gas.

Storyboarding is very important because it helps you be prepared when going out to report. The reporters already know what to look for so you’re not wasting time storyboarding in the field.

My partner, Sherron, and I figuring out the elements that will be used on our blbog before we went out to investigate

We also had a reporter back at the station or classroom in our cases who continously updated the web using the information we provided her. Continuous reporting allows users to get the most up to date information every minute by the minute from the comfort of wherever there’s a computer. Which in these days is a close as your pocket… cell phones!!!

Check out our blog: http://nobreakatthepump.blogspot.com/ 

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Expect the Unexpected September 14, 2008

     The assignment for this weekends class was to produce a broadcast package. Since I’m well trained in this area,  I thought it would be a breeze, but as usual technical problems reared their ugly heads causing our shoot not to go as smoothly as expected. This weekend was the Que Pasa Festival in Richmond, which is an annual event celebrating the Hispanic culture. My partner and I had everything all mapped out in our heads.

     We were going to get three interviews, one from an authoritative source, a vendor on site, and of course an event attendee. We made sure we got there extra early to grab a couple of the interviews before the event began. However, when we arrived we noticed our camera was experiencing some zooming focus difficulties. To further elaborate, the camera would only focus when zoomed in to a certain degree, not too wide and not to close. Which meant we would only be able to obtain medium shoots. Well that wouldn’t make for very good video so we had to go back and get a different camera.

   So we went back to the school to retrieve a different camera and we decided to take 2 cameras because one was better for interviews and the other would be used to capture b-roll because it did not have a mic output. So we arrive back to the event and the interview camera for some odd reason would not read the tape… So no tape… no footage. We were then forced to use the b-roll camera for everything… only one minor problem… the b-roll camera’s battery was dead. 

So what did we do? We found an outlet and charged the b-roll camera long enough to get battery power to do what we needed. While the battery was charging we decided to work on scripting our package and scoping out our interview subjects. When we got about 10 minutes of battery charged we quickly snagged our interviews and the b-roll needed to match our scripts.

So looking back over what we did, what we did right was using our time wisely. Event though we had some down time we used it to write our script and collect more background information. Now what we could have done differently is a number of things.

Here is advice from our experience on how to prepare for a video shoot. (Especially for student journalists)

1. Get as much background information as you can before you go to the shoot. This will assist you in knowing which questions to ask.

2. If possible contact you authoritative source before hand requesting an interview on site as it may be easier for them to allot time for media. They usually are very busy and difficult to track down during big events.

3. Check your equipment before going out. Not just checking to see if the camera turns on, but also if all the setting and options you’ll be using works. It may not be feasible to always to return to the school or station to obtain another camera. I would literally set up the camera as if I were out at the shoot to make sure EVERYTHING works.

4, Map out in your mind the interviews you would like to get before going out and the b-roll you wish to get even though it may not be obtainable. Its goo to have a plan and it helps you to get the story done quicker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Shooting!!!

Podcasts September 6, 2008

Podcasts can be downloaded directly to an ipod making podcasts portable and convenient.

     So as I mentioned before, I’m currently in graduate school for multimedia journalism. Tonight in class we discussed podcasts and I have to admit prior to tonight, I hadn’t paid much attention to podcasts or podcasting. However tonight I realized that it can be an incredibly useful tool for journalists.

     Podcasts originiated from combining the term broadcast and ipod. So I guess in a sense Apple can be accredited to its creation. It’s important that journalists keep abreast of the newest innovations so that we can cater to our audience through whichever platform they prefer. Podcasts can be updated and created just a quickly as news happens or changes. By using these outlets we can be more effecient.

However, as with everything else in journalism there are certain characteristics or standards that make for a good podcast.

http://jonesc.podbean.com/

The importance of Multimedia September 4, 2008

     Multimedia is a fairly new phrase. The term itself refers to media that incorporates various forms of media such as text, video, still images, and interactivity. In recent people have began to use the Internet as their predominant source for media.  Newsrooms all over the world have been transitioning their newsrooms to keep up with users’ demands and to be able to compete in a multimedia environment.

     Not only are newsrooms trying to become more multimedia savvy, organizations and companies in general are jumping on the bandwagon as well.  The NASA websiteis an example of a great multimedia website produced by a non-media outlet.  In contrast, an excellent example of the way traditional news outlets are using multimedia is CNN. They recently produced an excellent documentary entitled “Black in America,” in which they devoted an entire web page to the production of documentary. The web page includes various forms of media including slide shows, videos, various articles, and user polls.

Because of where the industry is going in terms of multimedia, journalists are being expected to keep up with the multimedia wave. Gone are the days where we’re able to specialize or label ourselves as just broadcast or print reporters, but employers are expecting us to be skilled in both and now be somewhat knowledgeable of the web as well. I guess its a world where only the fittest will survive.

There are various sources available to help students and or journalists become more advanced in the filed of multimedia.  The Knight Digital Media Center is an excellent source for tutorials and resources.