Greetings
Posted: February 3, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized Comments OffThanks for visiting. I’m not updating this blog for the time being, but feel free to explore. Or check out where I’m applying my professional energy these days.
Live coverage with Ustream
Posted: October 28, 2010 Filed under: Great tools, Just for fun, Video, Work | Tags: Eastern Washington University, Gonzaga University, iPhone, Spokane, Ustream, Westboro Baptist Church, Whitworth University Comments OffLast week the Westboro Baptist Church came to town. Although we were reticent about giving any more attention to Fred Phelps and his message of hate than absolutely necessary, we had to acknowledge that the Spokane community was planning to turn out in numbers to protest. We had to be there. And in the end, we produced out some solid coverage.
With Westboro’s well-publicized schedule of appearances, it seemed an easy opportunity to try something new with our live coverage at spokesman.com. Drawing from advice I got from Danny Gawlowski at the Northwest Video Workshop, I decided to try Ustream to shoot some live video.
For a trial effort, it went well. I shot live feeds of the counterprotests at Gonzaga University, Whitworth University and Eastern Washington University. Below you can check out the (choppy) replay of the EWU counter demonstration, easily the biggest of the day, then read on for some specs, tips and observations about using Ustream with an iPhone.
Publish2 link roundup
Posted: October 26, 2010 Filed under: Reading Comments OffBelow are some links I’ve recently saved on Publish2.
Tips and tools to innovate with during election night coverage
- | Online Journalism Review Oct 25, 2010
Northwest Video Workshop – storify.com
- | Storify.com Oct 20, 2010
Storify page on NW Video Workshop, which I attended last weekend.
Why KREM 2 News is covering the Westboro protests
- | www.krem.com Oct 20, 2010
Interesting.
“As Benjamin Franklin said when faced with this same kind of editorial quandary three hundred years ago, ‘when men differ in opinion, both sides ought equally to have the advantage of being heard by the public; and that when Truth and Error have fair play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter.’”
Northwest Video Workshop
Posted: October 25, 2010 Filed under: Video | Tags: Anne Herbst, Boyd Huppert, Danny Gawlowski, interviews, KING 5, Multimedia, Northwest Video Workshop, tips Comments Off
Photo by Jesse Tinsley
I attended the Northwest Video in Workshop in Seattle on Oct. 16. I made new friends, talked shop with other journalists and picked up some inspiration. A couple of (seriously overdue) notes and musings.
By design, the conference was high on inspiration and low on technical training. And that’s cool. The speakers shared more than a dozen great examples of video storytelling that reminded us of why good journalism matters.
My friends produced this parody of a parody
Posted: October 18, 2010 Filed under: Just for fun, Video | Tags: I'm on a boat, Lonely Island, New Mexico, parody, Raton Comments OffMy friend Starr visited last week and showed me the early cut of a video that she made with our mutual pals Johanna and Kyle. It’s a send-up of “I’m on a Boat, and now the finished version is on Funny or Die. If you’ve seen the Lonely Island original, you might get a laugh.
Publish2 link roundup
Posted: October 6, 2010 Filed under: Reading Comments OffBelow are some links I’ve recently saved on Publish2. These will post weekly on Sunday evenings when I remember to post them.
“Genevieve Alvarez shows journalists ‘How to gear up’” by Monica Guzman: A Story on Intersect
- | intersect.com
Want.
What “engagement” means to Voice of San Diego’s Grant Barrett
- | RJI Blog Sep 29, 2010
I love this idea about finding the right audience through Google and sharing it directly with them via email list.
That, in a nutshell, is Grant’s job: getting the content to the right readers, and bringing the right readers to the content. Hunting down the people who need to see it, even calling folks (like, on a telephone!) to introduce them to the content, and then hoping they find value in it.
Ted Leo’s prank: Yea or nay?
Posted: August 23, 2010 Filed under: Just for fun, Music | Tags: indie rock, musicals, Pitchfork, pranks, Ted Leo, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists Comments OffI say yea. I’ve been a fan of Ted Leo & the Pharmacists for years. I caught them in Portland on the Hearts of Oak tour and in Spokane on the Brutalist Bricks tour. Then I discovered he was on Twitter, baring his soul about the rigors of touring and retirement rumors. Which led to the prank in question. Good on him, I say.
Leo posted this screed on Monday, covered by Pitchfork, among others. And then today, the reveal.
If nothing else, it’s a reminder of why fans of (indie) rock and the media need to keep a sense of humor. And another reason why John Hodgman is great.
Remembering the fires of 1910
Posted: August 16, 2010 Filed under: Great multimedia, Photos, Video, Work | Tags: 1910 fires, Big Blowup, Big Burn, Ed Pulaski, forest fires, history, Inland Northwest, U.S. Forest Service Comments OffWe’ve been hard at work these past few months on an ambitious series about the 1910 forest fires that consumed huge swaths of the Inland Northwest. The series, titled Flame and Ruin: The fires of 1910, launched Sunday, and I encourage you to explore it. It’s a treat for history buffs and lovers of the outdoors.
My favorite parts of the online package are the above video scripted by Jim Kershner and produced by Colin Mulvany and a then-and-now presentation inspired by the New York Times featuring photographs by Christopher Anderson and a Django+jQuery app by Ryan Pitts and Mike Tigas.
But I certainly don’t want to overlook the reporting and writing that went into this package. I especially recommend Jim Kershner’s opening narrative and Becky Kramer’s story about Ed Pulaski, the tunnel in which he saved his fire crew, and that tunnel’s discovery in 1979. It runs Tuesday and will be found on the main page of the special series.
A new start
Posted: August 11, 2010 Filed under: Blogging | Tags: CSS, wordpress Comments OffIf you’ve been checking this page or its RSS feed in the past few days, you’ve noticed a resurgence in posts and possibly the new appearance. An explanation of each follows, in that order.
I pay for this server space, and I’ve spent the time to populate this site with thoughts about my profession. It seems silly to let that all go to waste. I hope to continue spreading pearls of wisdom about online journalism. But I also reserve the right to post the occasional Tumblr-like post about whatever I’m thinking, reading, watching or doing. It could be completely unrelated to journalism. Consider yourself warned.
I hope you like the new layout. I’m no CSS pro like Ryan Pitts, but the Atahualpa theme in WordPress does let me pretend. I welcome suggestions about improvements to the appearance. Seriously. Font, line space, padding. Just post it in the comments.
A dog’s life
Posted: August 11, 2010 Filed under: Self-promotion, Video, Work | Tags: Belgian Malinois, dogs, Fairchild Air Force Base, Spokane, U.S. Air Force Comments OffIt’s not my best video work, but it’s serviceable, and the talent was top-notch.
What moved me about this story was the barely spoken relationship between Lucky the Belgian Malinois and his handlers. Just listen to the way Staff Sgt. Gerald Martinez talks to Lucky as he’s running him through the obstacle course. The way Tech. Sgt. Levi Wilson wishes he could adopt Lucky. This dog has seen far scarier situations than I ever will, but he’s had good people taking care of him.