I’m doing a bit of research at the moment in the hope of learning from the experience of others when it comes to the work of video journalism.
By asking the question; “who in your organisation edits and processes video?” I hope to get some ideas on how to streamline the workflows of busy newsrooms coping with this often time-consuming task.
It was interesting to see that the debate about where this activity sits is also featuring on David Dunkley Gyimah’s blog where he poses the question Digital Journalist versus Integrated Multimedia Video journalism which one’s the future?
And comments: “Some outfits however interpret digital journalism as video journalism so on a pedagogic level herein lies a crux.”
So far a few respondants to Twitter and Plurk have come back to me to say that the VJs themselves (generally print reporters who’ve been trained) now carry out the video editing and associated work to get their video reports online.
What’s your experience? Does your newsroom see it as the VJ’s job? Do you consider it as a production function and if so how do you manage that? Do you have a special unit which takes responsibility?
All responses gratefully reecive – by all means email me if you want to comment off-the-record. I won’t be blogging any individual’s experience (or naming, names) just seeking some wisdom!
Dim Sum Digital 
I know of two newspapers where the reporter is expected to shoot the video (and write a print version) but the tape is passed over to others to actually digitise and dump what appears to be the rubbish. The reporter then has a look over what is left, says what they like and the other person edits it into shape.
Most that are trying it though just have the reporter do the lot, which is incredibly unfair and means people aren’t getting a good report in either print or video.
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I know of two newspapers where the reporter is expected to shoot the video (and write a print version) but the tape is passed over to others to actually digitise and dump what appears to be the rubbish. The reporter then has a look over what is left, says what they like and the other person edits it into shape.
Most that are trying it though just have the reporter do the lot, which is incredibly unfair and means people aren’t getting a good report in either print or video.
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I know of two newspapers where the reporter is expected to shoot the video (and write a print version) but the tape is passed over to others to actually digitise and dump what appears to be the rubbish. The reporter then has a look over what is left, says what they like and the other person edits it into shape.
Most that are trying it though just have the reporter do the lot, which is incredibly unfair and means people aren’t getting a good report in either print or video.
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touchy subject.
in my fairly limited experience it’s very hard to let go of something you have researched and shot.
i feel strongly that shooting a piece and editing it should be part of the same process, done by the same person, because one organises a package in one’s head while shooting and knows what to look for when editing.
as it is very difficult to be a ‘self sufficient’ VJ doing all the jobs, i think it works best for a news website when you have a team of two people – one VJ who shoots and edits, and one journalist who conducts interviews and writes copy if necessary.
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