Digital media that provide sound and moving images accomplish two things better than most other media. They show people to people, and they can capture and communicate a sense of experience. People have always invested in media that introduce them to interesting people, and give them a sense of “being there.” Print- and audio-only media seldom come as close.

This book is a blueprint full of tested, contemporary concepts to help you achieve excellence in visual storytelling and reporting. It can help you prepare for opportunities only vaguely imagined now, and help you decide what further academic or professional areas to pursue in coming years. This book can help you prepare for a meaningful career, or shift directions in an existing career. It can help you think smart and work smart in the field, and help you create reports and stories that surpass those of even your most formidable competitors.

The following chapters thus emphasize how to tell compelling visual stories on specific digital media platforms. As you work with digital media, you may discover they function primarily as ways to gather, process and disseminate content. That leaves room in this book, and for you, to place greater emphasis on visual storytelling and writing for the eye and ear, than upon technology—but with a caveat. Mastering that technology on many platforms gives you ever greater creative latitude as you plan, originate, gather, package and disseminate information using various media formats. Professionals who have failed to keep up with changing times and job demands now face uncertain futures.

This edition reflects the proven ideas and tested wisdom of some of the best in the business-including contemporary video and television professionals who have learned to play every instrument in the orchestra. They can do it all-report, write, shoot, and edit video on various digital media platforms. Everyday, such professionals help viewers learn much about the larger world and themselves through stories about others.

Countless such pros once practiced their art and craft as a single discipline-whether as video editor, writer, correspondent, photojournalist, lighting specialist, or audio engineer.

Today they may perform all those tasks and more as video reporters and storytellers who work on their own to research, field produce, report, write scripts and web copy, update stories, set up lights, shoot video, record audio, edit video and audio, and present or record information vocally and for live shots and on-camera standups. As you will discover a bit further along, one such person does all this and anchors the news in the country’s 53rd largest city, and had to build more shelves in his home to hold all his awards.

How good could such stories be, you might wonder, given all that’s expected of these folks? But routinely, their stories equal and often outshine the work of larger, more expensive, and cumbersome crews. Video reporters and storytellers with passion and dedication consistently produce interesting, memorable, award-winning stories.

NEW TITLES FOR NEW JOB DESCRIPTIONS

Visual storytellers and reporters go by various titles in different regions and at different shops. This edition uses the following terms interchangeably throughout to identify anyone who reports, writes, shoots, and edits video reports and stories, whether for news, the web, or any other platform or field of employment. Please think of the terms as applying interchangeably to identify anyone who gathers, writes, shoots, and edits visual stories alone.

All-platform journalist

Backpack journalist

Backpack reporter

Electronic journalist

Electronic reporter

Multi-platform journalist

Multi-platform reporter

One-person band

Solo journalist

Solo video reporter

Video journalist

Video reporter

Video journalist

Visual storyteller

Titles aside, these visual reporters and storytellers work in many nations, both in news and fields beyond journalism. You can follow their representative work and activities in more than 100 countries at www.vjmovement.com. Sometimes, their assignments take them to other countries. They work for corporations; government entities; public institutions; military branches; public relations, advertising and marketing firms; and even as freelancers.

If you work outside journalism, be assured that every technique, approach and philosophy applies to you, as well, and to all visual storytellers whose job is to “do it all” by themselves, regardless of the profession, industry, or institution in which they work.

Should you be employed in a more traditional setting where it’s commonplace to work in crews of two or even a half-dozen, this book provides the same valuable, up-to-date information that has made it the standard reference for professional visual storytellers and students around the world for more than a quarter century.

HOW TO RENEW OR JUMPSTART YOUR CAREER

Many pros spend years to learn and adopt the same storytelling philosophies, methods, and practices that you will discover in this book. You’ll find such information valuable, whether you’re just starting out, or already a pro who must keep up-to-date by learning new insights and evolving skills in visual storytelling. Countless other individuals may one day benefit further from the information herein, provided you choose to learn and apply it in your own professional work-and perhaps to someday “pass it on” as you guide others coming along behind you.

HOW TO EXCEL IN MULTIPLE CAPACITIES

The book also offers guidance on finding a starting point from which you can master each discipline progressively as a writer, reporter, videographer, editor and visual storyteller on various digital media platforms. You can gain proficiency in all these areas, just as thousands of others before you, by emphasizing whatever you do best and most enjoy doing, and then developing other skills along the way. Often, persistence separates winners from losers.

You also will discover approaches that can help you move your work from “good enough” to “good,” and even beyond “good” to “outstanding.” That’s really what continued employment, job satisfaction, and professional growth are all about.

ANTICIPATE KEY INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Where are you headed in life? A television executive from a large television ownership group sometimes challenges university journalism and mass communication students to contemplate their intended careers by considering “The Way It Was, The Way It Is, and The Way Will Be.” He asks students if they’re prepared to enter the professional world, posing the same questions he asks job applicants.¹

  ■ Why should I hire you?

  ■ What do you want to be doing five years from now? When you’re 40? What do you need to be doing now to achieve those goals?

  ■ What makes you and your work different than the 50 others who want this job?

  ■ What makes your storytelling style so unique that no one else can easily imitate it?

  ■ What can you do better than anyone else who is already on our staff?

  ■ Are you skilled enough to work with our marketing and promotion experts?

  ■ How can you and the skills you’ve developed help this organization achieve greater profitability?

  ■ You could be working in many non-broadcast careers that require broadcast knowledge and skills—using television to educate citizens in developing countries, for example, or bringing quality television to newspaper web sites. Why journalism? (or) the field you’ve chosen?

  ■ We always like to hire professionals with obvious passion for their jobs. Tell me about your passions.

  ■ I’ve read your resume and viewed some of your video stories. Tell me how well those materials represent your most important aptitudes and character traits.

  ■ If all the stations in town look alike, what can you add to help make certain viewers choose our station?

  ■ You know yourself better than anyone. How would you conduct yourself, both on the job and off, to always represent this organization in a good light? How will you dress? How will you act and behave in public when you’re off duty— whether in small ways or large, both negative and positive?

NOTE

  1. Based on proprietary information by the lead author, in affiliation with NuFuture.TV.