Via Mediashift – by Mark Van Patten
was as excited as anybody to be able to post video on our website. Our newspaper readers were turning more and more to their computer screen to read our news and it seemed logical that they would appreciate and enjoy seeing video enhancements for the print edition.
My excitement soon turned to frustration as I started to run into hurdles. While I saw an opportunity to expand our “share of mind,” our photojournalists saw it as an expansion of their work load. There also was immediate disagreement over hardware and software needs.
Now, the hardware and software issues have been resolved, but we still haven’t come to a mutual understanding or agreement on who should do what and when. Consequently, local video on our website is not fresh. As general manager, I have no oversight of the newsroom, only the online newspaper.
Getting the Right Equipment
I think photographers are often too involved with looking the part rather than getting results. It is especially true when it comes to photographers shooting video. When we made the commitment to video, our chief photographer purchased a prosumer videocamera, i.e. a camera that was between top-of-the-line professional and an amateur — or consumer — camera. It was an unnecessary expense, but it looked good.
Our online director Chris Houchens offers this great example when he speaks to newspaper groups on how to do video:
What photographers say they need
This is what your photographers say they want. A prosumer camcorder that looks so different from the regular consumer camcorder that the shooter will obviously be doing “serious” work.
What photographers really need
This is what photographers need. Since the end result is going to be web video — not broadcast — the difference in quality isn’t discernible by the average viewer.
Excellent video and sound can be captured without spending more than $700 total on equipment including camera, tripod and microphone. However, the photographer won’t look like the photographer from the TV station. Despite the size of your community, people know what TV photographers should look like.
Overcoming the look of being a photographer shooting video is not a small hurdle and should be addressed early on.
