Teaching how to find stories everywhere

 

Multimedia boot camp for college journalism instructors

We laughed at gaffs, we cursed the equipment and the clock, but we eventually got the story – in video, in audio and in stills – done by deadline. I was so proud of my awesome team of Kirk Notarianni and Robert Muilenberg, college journalism instructors at the inaugural Dow Jones Multimedia Academy, who had one day in a strange town to find a topic, gather content and produce a multimedia package for publication. Gina Germani joined in on the editing and the result was this look at the U.S. Bowling Congress Women’s Championships 2010 in El Paso where the city converted its convention center into a massive bowling alley and marketplace. My team, along with three other groups, had several days of lectures and hands-on practice before plunging into their multimedia project. As storylines began to reveal themselves throughout the day of our field work we had a couple of quick huddles to make sure we had enough material to support them.

The video segment of the package focused on the brass tacks story of the huge project and the impact it had on the El Paso community and the bowlers who participated.

The audio slideshow was a great way to feature the culture of the bowlers themselves. We came across a group of bowling monitors on a break and they turned out to be great characters. Their observances of the competitions over the years added a deeper perspective beyond the voices of just the bowlers themselves.

Video: The final run of the Coloradoan’s press

On Monday, May 11, 2009 the Coloradoan’s press in Fort Collins made its last run. Printing of the paper moved the next day to a high-speed press in Denver. I was there shooting video to document the last shift as two of our photographers captured it in stills. The press team was amazing, balancing their sadness and final farewells with doing the best professional job they could. The 18-unit press required a lot of manual tweaking and these guys hustled up and down its steps and between moving parts to check on the open ink wells, secure the metal plates and keep things rolling in register.