10.1: Introduction

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Mark Briggs
University of South Florida

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The quality of video journalism by newspapers has dramatically improved in the past few years. Yes, you read that right. Newspapers are producing some of the best video journalism in the U.S. and around the world. Instead of being broadcast on television, however, most of these video stories are published on the Web.

The advent of (relatively) cheap digital video cameras and free video-editing software has leveled the playing field just as the Internet did with text publishing. Instead of a $35,000 camera, an expensive editing station, a two-person crew and years of training, one person can produce high-quality Web video with a $500 camera and a laptop or desktop computer.

As a result, some TV news companies are breaking up traditional news teams and creating VJs — video journalists. Also known as “backpack journalists,” they work solo and serve as both reporter and videographer on assignment.

The lower entry barriers also have influenced secondary education. Around the U.S., thousands of high school and junior high students are receiving formal training in shooting and editing video at school. Those that go on to journalism school will graduate with a broader array of skills than most of the journalists working today.

David Leeson, a Dallas Morning News photographer who shared a 2004 Pulitzer Prize, wrote a passionate plea for diversification of skills on the SportsShooter Web site in November 2006. In it, he compared the newspaper industry to a distant aunt visiting a reunion for the first time in 25 years.

“Last time you saw her you were sitting in a booster seat. Today she appears a tad smaller than before and marvels at how big you've become. Video was a child when most of us first picked up a 35mm. Now, video is all grown up and on its way to becoming a powerful storytelling tool.”

“If you had the skills in video today — there would be a very long list of opportunities before you,” Leeson wrote. “To move forward in life requires a measure of risk. There is no greatness outside of risk. The future of the traditional newspaper is looking pretty risky these days but the health of solid visual reporting is getting stronger every day by those of us who value visual journalism and ethical storytelling above and beyond a 35mm.”¹

These next chapters will help you understand the basic concepts of shooting and editing digital video with enough step-by-step instruction that you will be able to pick up a camera and shoot footage then edit it and publish it online. It’s that easy.

References

David Leeson, "Preserving our Vision," Sports Shooter, November 16, 2006. David Leeson is a staff photographer for The Dallas Morning News who has covered conflicts and wars all over the globe. In 2000 he began shooting video for The Dallas Morning News, becoming one of the first photographers shooting video for a newspaper on a full-time basis.

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