Monthly Archive for January, 2009

Teaching podcasting @EU Parliament in Brussels

What are the dead simple to use reporting tools for field audio interviews? The field research continues in Europe where I’ll be training reporters using these FlashMics in Brussels.
Dead simple reporting tools for field audio interviews

I hope to be convinced that they are extremely simple to use AND can produce sound to professional standards. That’s a winning combination for me and, as a part owner in a recording studio, something I obviously value very highly.

On the FlashMic, You basically just have to press one button to make it record, and another to stop. They also do have line input for picking up sound from an external source (like a press conference etc).

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Teaching podcasting @EU Parliament in Brussels
Brussels, Belgium
March 16 — 16, 2009

Multimedia training in Europe - Learn Web video in Berlin

Multimedia training at KircherBurkardt in Belrin.
Great news! For the March 17-19 video journalism training, Visual Editors has a great host in KircherBurkhardt. KircherBurkhardt is the famous German editorial design firm and is donating training space and facilities.

I did a few days of private multimedia training with KB staff last year and my friend, Lukas Kircher has opened up his shop to allow this event to take place for anyone who wants to learn how to tell Web video stories better. Walking into KB is like entering Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. It is Germany’s largest information graphics operation and it is an amazing place to come practice multimedia.

All proceeds benefit the Visual Editors charity.

Come to Berlin to learn:
– Fundamentals of camera usage
– Shooting and editing sequences
– How to gather audio
– Elements of visual stories
– Writing scripts, recording voice overs and editing scenes
– Final Cut shortcuts and workflows
– Compressing, uploading and filing videos for Web

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Audio is the most important multimedia to get right


Tremors 4: The Legend Begins download

Sound is the highest value multimedia asset that modern journalists must master. Audio quality is the first thing an audience will judge you by and instantly brands you as an amateur or a professional.

I have been doing audio multimedia consulting for correspondents who cover the EU Parliament in Brussels for the last few months and I’ll share some of the expertise I have gained in recording and mixing sound for better the part of my life.

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Oprah interviews Chicago Sun-Times designer

Chicago Sun-Times Page One Editor, James Smith, is interviewed for more than five minutes on Oprah’s show to talk about the series of historic front pages the paper has published as Barack Obama ascended to the presidency and the White House.

Editor-in-chief Michael Cooke Dinner at Eight full movie reports in a message to me that he was in the audience while James took the questions. I don’t know about you but I would never imagine Oprah ever giving a five minute interview with a newspaper designer and also wouldn’t think a top editor could ever exhibit that much class by NOT taking the stage.
To give the spotlight to the designer for this occasion is really rare and gallant.

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Complete front page collection of Obama's Inauguration newspapers

Front page collection of newspapers Covering Obama's Inauguration Friends with Money

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WAN Postpones Annual Congress, Editors Forum

This just in: The World Association of Newspapers has decided to postpone its World Newspaper Congress, World Editors Forum and Info Services Expo, scheduled to be held in Hyderabad, India from 22 to 25 March, until December, due to the impact of the global financial downturn on newspaper companies.

I was scheduled to present at the World Editors Forum in Hyderabad, India in March and I guess I am not surprised that the event will be delayed. For the past few years I have also directed teams of video journalists who file daily reports from the congress and I really love working these events. I often describe them as the Olympics of journalism meetups. The host country’s president usually opens the congress and the delegates are all publishers, owners or editors-in-chief. A fascinating group of global media decision-makers.

WAN usually holds these congresses in June and this one was going on a fast-track nine month plan that has been slowed down due to the global economic crisis.

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Best front page designs: Obama Inauguration

From Brussels a front page that meshes the print and online. A word glyph of the words from President Obama's address paired with an iconic image and strongly worded headline.

From Brussels, DeMorgen’s front page meshes the print and online worlds. A word glyph of the words from President Obama’s address paired with an iconic image and strongly worded headline.

Those word cloud graphics are striking and surprisingly easy to generate at worldle.net
worlde cloud

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Extraordinary photos of Obama inauguration

Photo copyright 2008-2009 Robb Montgomery

Some of the best photos I have seen from the Obama Inauguration week have been taken by amateurs. The New York Times is inviting ordinary shutterbugs to post up documentary images from D.C. They even link to this amazing gallery from their home page.

You can add in your best photos from Obama’s big week by e-mailing them to pix@nyt.com
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The Hudson plane photo proves Twitter is not a toy

Janis Krums used Twitter and his iPhone to TwitPic this amazing image in real time from the scene of the evacuation.

Janis Krums used Twitter and his iPhone to TwitPic this amazing image in real time from the scene of the evacuation.

For those of you who missed it. And how could you? Charles Apple has a fully-illustrated blog post that shows how newspapers used this image in the front page today.

This is the newsphoto of the week and it was taken on an iPhone and distributed via Twitter.
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Video: Why is there no daily newspaper in a city of six million people?

This new film documentary was reported and filmed on location in Alexandria, Egypt by print journalists learning video journalism techniques.

I was able to make this film with great contributions from a translator and a top film assistant. We directed the efforts of 14 Egyptian journalists to report and edit an original documentary about this issue in only one week’s time. We worked with people who had never done a project like this before . . .

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