Video journalism
or
videojournalism
is a form of
journalism
, where the journalist shoots, edits and often presents their own video material.
Background
[
edit
]
A predecessor to video journalism first appeared in the 1960s in the USA, when reporters had to write and shoot their own stories.
[1]
Michael Rosenblum
compared the introduction of
video cameras
to the invention of the portable camera in the 1930s: film spools of plastic made
photography
independent from heavy
plates
and tripods, and
digital video technology
liberates TV from heavy
electronic news gathering
(ENG) equipment, artificial light and
television studios
in much the same manner. Video journalism makes it possible for
videographers
to document any event while it is still occurring.
[2]
The concept of the Videojournalist using a small camera was invented by
Michael Rosenblum
in 1988. The first TV station in the world to use only VJs was TV Bergen, in Bergen, Norway. Rosenblum later built VJ-only TV stations for
TV 3 Norway
,
TV3 Sweden
and
TV3 Denmark
. Around the same time,
CITY-TV
in Toronto also began to adapt the ideas for their
CityPulse
newscast and other shows produced at the station, becoming a staple; similar principles were adopted by Citytv head
Moses Znaimer
at other CHUM television stations and networks.
In the early 1990s, the news channel
New York 1
was the first TV station in the US to hire only video journalists and have them trained by Rosenblum.
[3]
In the mid-1990s, the first
German
private stations followed the example of NY1, and in 1994, the regional channel
Bayerischer Rundfunk
became the first
public broadcasting
station to follow suit and hire a number of video journalists.
[1]
In 2001 the
BBC
started to switch to video journalism in all its regional offices.
[4]
As of June 2005 the
BBC
has more than 600 of its staff trained as video journalists.
[5]
Other broadcasting entities who now use video journalism include
Voice of America
and
Video News International
.
[6]
It also seems to be becoming more widespread among
newspapers
, with the
New York Times
alone employing twelve video journalists.
[7]
The
Press Association
(UK) is behind a training programme which "converts" regional journalists into video journalists, and more than 100 have been converted as of March 2007.
[8]
In Australia, several commercial networks employ Video Journalists. They include WIN News, Golden West Network (GWN) and Network Ten. Increasing popularity in online news has seen Video Journalists employed by Fairfax, News Limited and The West Australian Newspaper Holdings to produce video content for their news websites.
In Canada, the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
made a widespread move into hiring video journalists (or retraining existing reporters or camera people to do multiple jobs) in the late 1990s. In most cases, they were assigned to local
newsrooms
to do daily news, just as full crews had before. Primarily, it was a cost-saving measure. Within a few years, however, it was clear that this rarely produced good results because of short deadlines and the assumption that VJ’s could work the same way and on the same stories. The effort was scaled back.
The exception turned out to be video journalists who work more as independent documentary film-makers, using their
electronic field production
(EFP) mobility and easier access to do stories that don’t have short deadlines. One example of this is award-winning video journalist Sasa Petricic, who works for CBC’s flagship daily
newscast
, The National, and reports solo from around the world.
Tara Sutton
another Canadian video journalist reported for multiple news outlets from Iraq and other conflicts and won many international awards. She has cited the unobtrusively small equipment of a video journalist as allowing her to move undercover more easily in the extreme danger of Iraq and access places where traditional news crews could not have gone without become targets.
The video journalist
Kevin Sites
is perhaps the best known having his own website Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone in which he spent a year going from one war to the next. He began as a traditional camera man but switched to video journalism.
The
New York Times
employs 12 video journalists who come mostly from television and documentary background. The Times' video unit regularly produces documentaries to go along with print pieces that run in the newspaper.
In 2012, former
New York Times
and
Current TV
video journalist, Jaron Gilinsky, founded Storyhunter, a network of 25,000 video journalists in 190 countries.
Pros and cons
[
edit
]
Growth in video journalism coincides with changes in video technology and falling costs. As quality cameras and
non-linear editing system
(NLE) have become smaller and available at a fraction of their previous prices, the single
camera operator
method has spread.
[9]
Some argue that video journalists can get closer to the story, avoiding the impersonality that may come with larger
television crewing
. In addition, the dramatically lower costs have made possible the birth of many
cinema verite
-style documentary films and
television series
. Others see this method of production as a dilution of skills and quality driven by
television network
management cost cutting incentives.
[10]
There is a move toward finding independent distribution for freelance video journalists. One of the issues is
copyright
, which can be difficult to obtain when broadcasters and agencies insist on full ownership of the footage. The other difficulty can be trying to find distribution beyond established contacts. Increasingly, online companies are giving VJs the opportunity to keep ownership of their stories and find global distribution.
Related words
[
edit
]
A video journalist is often referred to simply as a "VJ". Other titles for the same or similar job include:
- Solo VJ
[11]
- One Man Band or "OMB"
[12]
- Multi-Media Journalist or "MMJ"
[13]
- Backpack Journalist
[14]
- Solo journalist or "SoJo"
[15]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes and references
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
probably
88u
Roman Mischelulgvyy5ugu
Definition, Geschichte und Gegenwart
, onlinejournalismus.de, 9. Februar 2005 (21. November 2006g5uvyc Chevy u guv)
- ^
Michael Rosenblum
:
Vom Zen des Videojournalismus
, in: Andre Zalbertus/ Rosenblum, Michael:
Videojournalismus
. Uni Edition, 2003,
ISBN
3-937151-10-9
, S. 17-75
- ^
"Station History"
. TV channel. 2007-05-08
. Retrieved
2007-05-02
.
- ^
Andre Zalbertus:
Vom Abenteuer einer Revolution in Deutschland
, in: Andre Zalbertus/ Rosenblum, Michael:
Videojournalismus
. Uni Edition, 2003,
ISBN
3-937151-10-9
, S. 11-15
- ^
"BBC hosts European video journalism conference"
.
British Broadcasting Corporation
. 2005-07-01
. Retrieved
2007-02-08
.
- ^
"Video Journalists: More Crews, More Coverage, More Ratings"
. TVB, Television Broadcast. 2006-09-18. Archived from
the original
on 2006-11-28
. Retrieved
2007-04-06
.
- ^
"New York Times video"
.
The New York Times
. 2010-02-28
. Retrieved
2010-02-28
.
- ^
"In the frame for video journalism"
. Press Gazette. 2007-04-23
. Retrieved
2007-09-12
.
- ^
"Democratizing TV: The BBC"
. TVSpy. 2002-09-17. Archived from
the original
on 2007-01-19
. Retrieved
2007-04-20
.
- ^
"
'Video journalists' Inevitable revolution or way to cut TV jobs?"
. Online Journalism Review. 2005-02-08
. Retrieved
2007-02-08
.
- ^
David Dunkley Gyimah
- ^
“One Man Band” Video Journalist Model Proliferates
- ^
News Director Gives Backpack Journalism a Try
Archived
July 11, 2008, at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
New technology gives birth to 'backpack journalist'
- ^
Meet Kevin Sites, conflict, war correspondent & solo journalist
Archived
October 8, 2007, at the
Wayback Machine
|
---|
Roles
| |
---|
Profession
| |
---|
Areas
| |
---|
Genres
| |
---|
Social impact
| |
---|
News media
| |
---|
|