I don’t know too much about their operation, but we could all learn from the people running the show at vbs.tv. If you haven’t seen that site, check it out. Buried under the whiny hipsterism in the presentation of their news stories is a sea change in good online storytelling.

Their recent 12-part series called “Toxic Garbage Island,” about the harm done to the ocean by our culture’s reliance on plastics, drew hundreds of comments. Most simply say “thanks.” That’s as good as it gets in my book.

Unfortunately, many young journalists are being taught how to be broadcast journalists — online. Many old broadcast people are now finding jobs as professors or as consultants, teaching seminars.

It’s scary, because what they consider good video, we don’t. I hope enough young journalists resist this sad attempt by many broadcast journalists to try to stay relevant in a new medium. It’s one thing to teach how to shoot video, edit, storyboard, etc. It’s another thing to teach how to tart up the news.

@Patrick,
That’s a fantastic idea. I have to remember to do that sometime.

And I think that’s where the so-called Social Generation steps in. Done right, we could show people that news doesn’t have to be phony. We literally have the chance to reinvent how it’s done.

I was quite disturbed while documenting a mass balloon release by students to celebrate a mural’s completion, when a local news producer spent about 20 minutes getting his shot set and making the students and the mural’s sponsors wait–action that greatly decreased the true excitement of the moment, and created something almost phony and manufactured.

My news-shooting philosophy is to capture whatever you can while you can–and if you didn’t manage to quite get the perfectly framed shot, so be it. I completely agree with your post.

http://www.westword.com/2008-03-20/news/credit-is-due/full

With video, there’s a certain element of control and manipulation, more so than you’d find in typical beat reporting or photography. You have to control light and sound and you have to edit it a way that tells a story which may not be exactly as you saw it.

I’ve seen national news (mostly TV news magazines) do stuff like this, too. I hate it and think it crosses a very clear ethical line when you aren’t upfront about your directing shots.