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June 2007 - Posts

Friday, June 29, 2007 5:46 PM

No comment, please, thank you, no comment, no...

There was no video or audio, because the judge in juvenile court decided it was better to sentence the 16-year-old girl who killed her father without pictures and sound. I covered the story as I had other court stories for years. It was one of
posted by RonSylvester | 0 Comments
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Friday, June 22, 2007 5:44 PM

Quest for maps

It’s easy to be seduced by video and audio slide shows. They are like magic to print reporters who, until now, have been confined to words and the dreaded “info” boxes to relay information. But multimedia isn’t just about pictures that move
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Wednesday, June 20, 2007 5:41 PM

Meanwhile, back in video class...

Whenever I hear about basic video shots, I think of the old television show “Dragnet.” I brought this up in our video training class the other day, and Stacey, our instructor, and everyone else looked at me strange – except for our photo editor
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Wednesday, June 20, 2007 5:39 PM

Wicked, cool awesom video

If you haven't checked out the "On Being" series at the Washington Post, it's a very cool project. And this one in particular is one you should watch: Of course, I'm biased. Jessica is my stepdaughter. I had nothing to do with any of this, except
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Tuesday, June 19, 2007 5:37 PM

We've got training

The problem is not that we aren’t eager. People are begging to learn about multimedia, especially video, as Angela Grant pointed out recently. What they're not receiving is training. Although decision makers in newsrooms move more slowly,
posted by RonSylvester | 0 Comments
Monday, June 18, 2007 5:34 PM

Don't just look, see

One of the most debated aspects of the transition to multimedia is whether we reporters can handle it. Those who come from the visual background have mixed feelings over whether we can pull our heads out of our notebooks and survive. Last week
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Wednesday, June 13, 2007 5:32 PM

Keep an ear for an ethical echo

I know I preach a lot about getting audio. I think it’s the easiest transition for print reporters to make, because they already are comfortable with recording interviews. We all just need to learn to keep our mouths shut and listen more,
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Tuesday, June 12, 2007 5:29 PM

It must be good if someone is trying to stop it

We’re barely into this new world of live reporting, via the Internet, and already the some anti-constitution authorities are trying to stop us. I’m not talking about federal prosecutors in California – I’m talking
posted by RonSylvester | 0 Comments
Saturday, June 09, 2007 5:27 PM

You mean people actually watch this stuff

Starting out in multimedia, especially at a newspaper that is just beginning to dabble in it, can be a humbling experience. Since I’ve been concentrating on learning how to add audio slide shows and video to my reporting, I’ve written shorter
posted by RonSylvester | 0 Comments
Thursday, June 07, 2007 5:26 PM

"The Pulitzers are history"

From Salon, that was our favorite acceptance speech from the 11th Annual Webby AwardsAll speeches are limited to five words. I’ve always thought that we should compare oursevles to the best. I’m always looking to see who's excelling in what
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Wednesday, June 06, 2007 5:21 PM

They Call Me MISTER Tripod

Hillman Curtis predicts in his book “On Creating Short Films for the Web” that video will take over from Flash as the main tool for driving on-line media. Curtis was one of the developers of Flash and one of the top web designers, doing little
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Monday, June 04, 2007 5:19 PM

Bringing it into autofocus

Angela Grant alertly saw where I was heading with this thread, and as usual is a step or two ahead of me, aptly asking: “But what were you thinking of using that audio for?” I have been harping on audio from the outset of this young blog, because
posted by RonSylvester | 0 Comments
Saturday, June 02, 2007 5:16 PM

Talk dirty to me

Face it, some days you just can’t get out of the office. These days of cell phones and BlackBerries make it easier to stay connected, but sometimes more difficult to set up that face-to-face interview. And if we’re out to get good audio for our
posted by RonSylvester | 0 Comments
Friday, June 01, 2007 5:15 PM

A hard day's night

I wrote a 27-inch story and cut five related audio slide shows this week. Then I gladly took some vacation days I’d scheduled to go out of town with my family. I needed it. I’ve spent some amount of time asking myself if it was worth it, as others
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