Scholarships awarded

Five high-school journalists have been honored with scholarships from NINA. Story and photos here.

Deadline 2009: Will Newspapers Survive?

Here's a two-part video from NINA's June 18 panel discussion in Chicago. Part 1:



Part 2:

Film at 11

Video report coming soon from last week's newspaper panel discussion in Chicago. Probably next week, since I'm doing a high-school journalism camp most of this week.

State cash grab, or hoax?

There's an e-mail circulating this week, claiming that Illinois on July 1 will start using cameras in construction zones and issuing $375 fines if you're even 1 mph over the posted limit. A second offense, the e-mail says, costs $1,000 and a 90-day license suspension.

All of which could be believable, given Illinois' financial straits. But it's fishy. But, the DOT links given in the e-mail are dead, and I haven't been able to verify this anywhere. Whether it's true or not, it would make a good story, because a lot of people are getting this e-mail. Here's a Web link to its content.

Video storytelling tips

Here’s another notebook dump from NINA’s recent cross-training workshop. These are notes from a presentation about producing video and audio, by Chris Soprych and Billy Kulpa of the Rockford Register Star.

Find the right story. Generally that’s NOT a meeting story. When you can, do video stories because they’re fun. (An example shown was a reporter attempting to eat a restaurant’s BLT sandwich that contained a full pound of bacon.)

Do a pre-interview. This gets your subject comfortable talking to you before the camera is rolling.

Edit yourself before and during your shoot. Don’t shoot too much video. That equals long editing time. Keep your stories narrowly focused. Whenever possible, know your story’s beginning, middle and end before you shoot it.

Audio is the most important component of video. Use headphones when videotaping, so you will hear the sounds as it will sound on the tape. This can head off disasters.

Also on audio: Be aware of intrusive sounds as you’re doing an interview. Fans blowing, people talking in the background, etc. Most camcorders can’t adjust the ambient sound levels.

Compose your shots before you shoot them. This cuts editing time.

When shooting B-roll (non-interview clips that show context at a scene), make each clip at least 20 seconds.

Always get your subjects’ permission to post video of them to the Web. Tell them what your story includes – print, electronic, audio, video. They should know how you will use their information.

Use a tripod for all but the most urgent, breaking news – and even then, try to use one. “Unless you are jumping out of a plane, you must use a tripod.”

Chris and Billy provided a great handout, which included not only tips like those above, but also advice on audio and video equipment. For a copy, contact Chris Soprych.

Photojournalism for reporters

Here's the first of two notebook dumps from last Thursday's NINA cross-training workshop. This material is from Vince Pierri, photographer and reporter for the Daily Herald. Vince offered photojournalism advice to reporters:

Reporters who also shoot photos have an advantage: They’ve already established rapport with their subjects, who then feel more comfortable during the photo shoot.

Advice he got from Pulitzer-winning photojournalist John White: If you’re being sent out to a spot-news situation, go to the bathroom first. You may have to spend a long time in a confined area roped off by police.

Shoot a lot of images, from many perspectives and focal lengths.

Turn off the flash. Digital cameras, even point-and-shoots, do well in low light. Natural light is far better than flash for news photos.

When possible, notice how the light is falling on your subject. For best results, the light source should be either behind you or off to one side. Avoid backlighting subjects unless you’re purposefully doing that for effect.

Change your shooting angle. Try shooting from low or high angle for a more interesting perspective.

Watch backgrounds. They should be clean. No light poles growing out of people’s heads, etc.

Ask a staff photographer to coach you. Go on a shoot with him/her, watch how they work and then look at the photos afterwards.

Learn Photoshop.

If you are multitasking – reporting, shooting, maybe even shooting video – the priority is on the visual. “If something is unfolding before you, you can’t miss it with your camera.”

Exception: You arrive at a fire scene where the fire is already out, and people are beginning to leave. You’ll need to interview people first, while you still can. The photo possibilities still will look the same a few minutes later.

'Mourning a scourge of the comfortable'

A Washington Post story by Dana Milbank covers the memorial service for John Wilke, Wall Street Journal investigative reporter. The service was held in the Newseum in Washington. The story wonders if this was also a memorial service of sorts for investigative journalism.

Key paragraph:

Most people associate journalism with globetrotting White House correspondents or the ideologues of the op-ed page. But the ones losing their jobs now are more important: thousands of lesser-known John Wilkes across the country, holding officials to account at all levels of government. At a Senate hearing last month on the decline of newspapers, David Simon, the reporter turned HBO producer, put it this way: "The next 10 or 15 years in this country are going to be a halcyon era for state and local political corruption. It is going to be one of the great times to be a corrupt politician."

Event Thursday in Chicago

Just a reminder about the panel discussion about newspapers' future, Thursday, June 18, in Chicago. It's free, but please RSVP to Dirk Johnson by Monday if you're going. It's at the Union League Club, just a short walk from the train station.

Men: Please note that jackets are required in the club.

All a-Twitter

Fascinating article in the new issue of TIME magazine, about how Twitter might change the world. For real. Here's what they say about news and opinion:

Increasingly, the stories that come across our radar — news about a plane crash, a feisty Op-Ed, a gossip item — will arrive via the passed links of the people we follow. Instead of being built by some kind of artificially intelligent software algorithm, a customized newspaper will be compiled from all the articles being read that morning by your social network. This will lead to more news diversity and polarization at the same time: your networked front page will be more eclectic than any traditional-newspaper front page, but political partisans looking to enhance their own private echo chamber will be able to tune out opposing viewpoints more easily.

'Marital Arts'

This is why there will always be a need for good editors:


This isn't one of those Internet forwards. I took this photo myself a couple of years ago. It's the Army-Navy store in Columbia Falls, Mont.

Panel discussion on the future of journalism

For more than a century, Chicago has reigned as perhaps the most vibrant news town in America. But with both major newspapers in the city in bankruptcy, the fate of the reporting trade is murky, here and throughout America.

Join some of Chicago's most prominent reporters, editors and columnists on Thursday, June 18 for a discussion on the fast-changing state of the profession - and the strategies for survival - sponsored by the Northern Illinois Newspaper Association.

WHAT: Distinguished media panel discusses the future of journalism
WHERE: Union League Club, 65 West Jackson Blvd., Chicago
WHEN: June 18, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.

Panelists include:
Mark Brown, columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times
Ray Long, investigative reporter for the Chicago Tribune
Eileen Brown, innovations editor at the Daily Herald
Monroe Anderson, blogger and columnist for EbonyJet
Tom McNamee, editorial page editor for the Chicago Sun-Times
Andrew Huff, editor of GapersBlock
Session moderator: Dirk Johnson, former bureau chief for The New York Times and Newsweek magazine who lectures on journalism at Northern Illinois University.

The panel discussion and Q&A session is open to the public and free of charge. Seating is limited. Please RSVP by June 15 to Dirk Johnson .

Hosted by the Union League Club of Chicago. Supporters include the law firm of Kelley Drye & Warren and APCO Worldwide, a public affairs and strategic communications firm.