Video Tips From Wash Po

Effective video journalism is vital for a stable news organisation, according to Chet Rhodes from the Washington Post.

The newspaper’s assistant managing editor for video says future news groups need a successful balance of video, photography and text-based journalism and he has offered some tips on how to work towards achieving this.

Rhodes’s advice, featuring on the editorsweblog, comprises strategies for training reporters to use video and for shooting and organisation.

So here’s a few tips from his experiences at the Post:

Shooting & Organisation

*When first starting out, videos lacking in quality but with interesting content can be acceptable.

*“We don’t want reporters to try to shoot documentaries.” - Rhodes says short interviews and simple shots that set the scene are great.

*TV anchor style news round-ups do not work on websites.

*Videos should conclude with journalists speculating on “what’s next”.

“Our reporters can tell people what’s next in a way that no television reporters can do, because for the most part they don’t have the same deep knowledge as do newspaper reporters.”

Training

*Keep it voluntary.

*The main idea is to help reporters recognise which stories are suited to video.

*Practical training sessions should be followed up over the long-term via a “conversation that lasts several years”.

*Allow journalists to decide when video could be useful to avoid fears it will hamper text-based articles.