If you major in newspaper journalism, that does not mean you do not have to learn broadcast journalism. Sure your specialty and desire is in newspaper reporting. But the Internet allows you to take your story to the next level using different mediums. Multimedia journalism is the combination of using two or more types of media to tell a story: photos, video, graphics, interactive feeds, and print. I can post the same story I distributed in the mornings paper on the website or I can take it to the next level. I can post the story and create a video or a photo voice presentation to go along with the piece.
Below is an example of a piece a photojournalist made about Maycie, a young blind girl who plays a musical instrument in an orchestra. Erik Castro used his talent to tell an amazing story. He published a photo with an article in a newspaper but created this piece online to accompany the work. And it was a huge addition to the story. He did not copy his print article word for word either. He searched for new details to add to the piece in this presentation.
MUSICAL MAYCIE - A Blind Girl's Life in a Children's Orchestra from erik castro | photojournalist on Vimeo.
After reading the article in the newspaper, you have information but you lack the visuals. But posting this online for readers allows you to let them hear Maycie and let her tell the story. It enhances the piece and makes it memorable to the audience. When a reporter says something, it is another word. But when that central compelling character tells their story, that word has meaning as it is their life. You begin to hear what they sound like, see what they look like, and even begin to experience how they feel.
If you are broadcast journalist, create video slideshows. Create graphics that help people decipher information. You can write a compelling print story and even edit a longer video piece to show online if details were left out because of time restrictions of the news broadcast. However, remember the rules of journalism when deciding how to tell the story however and make sure it is still accurate and true with whatever method you use to approach the information.
Here is another example of what one Mizzou student put together. She actually won the multimedia division at POYi (Picture of the Year) a few years ago for this piece. Rachel Mummey spent a day following the couple to create a profile about a husband caring for his wife who has Alzheimer's Disease.
For better or for worse from Rachel Mummey on Vimeo.
Being a journalist is one thing. But to be great, you must learn how to use every tool around you. Take classes about being a photographer if you are a video or writer. Because being a good videographer and capturing still imagery are two different skills. If you open video editing software and do not know how to use it, learn it and put your story telling technique to the test. Because if you tell your story in more than one way, you will reach different people and learn how to tell the story in incredible ways. I am trying to learn all the mediums in the stories I have been producing. It isn't easy and is quite time consuming but I am more satisfied with my story in the end.
Mediastorm is an excellent resource to look at for examples and find classes to help you learn to tell stories in different ways. They have several examples of how people use video and photography photos in hard news. Also look for workshops in your local community to help you learn valuable skills.
This is an example for the Mediastorm website of what could be a hard news feature.
A Darkness Visible: Afghanistan is the work of photojournalist Seamus Murphy. His work chronicles a people caught time and again in political turmoil, struggling to find their way. See the project at http://mediastorm.com/publication/a-darkness-visible-afghanistan
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