Getting a sense of “urgency” into news coverage matters. Given real-time realities of Facebook and other in-the-moment social media connectors, there is an expectation that if something happened 10 minutes ago, there should be coverage available equally instantaneously.
Oddly, high school students sometimes have a “disconnect” between their “real lives” and their “high school journalism lives,” in terms of fast and timely coverage. Additionally, for video-based pubs, like INfocus, a challenging technical reality exists about the time it takes to upload and edit stories using HD footage.
Yesterday afternoon, our school’s athletic director announced that our school would no longer play our crosstown rival in football, due to lopsided game scores over the past decade and more. Big news!
PalyVoice had a “ticker” up almost immediately, and the competitive burners fired up on the other school publications.
An executive producer for INfocus decided to do a “one man package” to get his publication on the coverage map. He used an iPhone to shoot, edit and upload the story — thereby avoiding the time suck involved in high-def editing through a computer. He also had to decide, “Fast? Or more interviews?” and made the strategic decision for speed rather than shooting additional B-roll.
This exchange on Facebook is with Wes Rapaport, a former executive producer of INfocus and now a college student majoring in broadcast journ at Chapman in Southern California. He gives kudos — and critique — to his former publication’s work.
Ellen Austin Crosstown football rivalry tradition will end because the two Paly schools’ athletic directors have decided not to play the schools on the gridiron due to lopsided results over the years. Wes Rapaport, notice that this package was filmed AND UPLOADED on the same day? Keeping it … reel.
Wes Rapaport Especially pleased with the speed since the story broke in the afternoon! Great story and interviews, my only comment would be that it needs b-roll