Backpack Journalism Blog

WASHINGTON, DC, 14 June 2013 — Sam Meddis, the former head of USA Today’s video department in Washington, DC, reviewed my Essential Video Journalism Field Manual on Amazon.com, saying, “it teaches the fundamentals of the craft.” Sam, who recently retired from the newspaper business, said, “the book comes alive with teachable moments.”

To read the whole review, click HERE.

WASHINGTON, DC, 13 JUNE 2013 — I gave a presentation at the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) on backpack video journalism to 21 working professionals visiting from the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. What an incredible group of motivated people eager to learn of new ways of practicing our craft.

I showed them a film I made years ago about a prison in Alabama. They were astonished at the access that I enjoyed while making the film. I explained that my access was partly a function of the fact that I used a small, pro-sumer camera that the prison officials found completely inoffensive.

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, 30 May 2013 — It’s over. My Video Journalism Workshop at Nancy McGirr’s Fotokids ended with a big ice cream cake and this group shot. Great way to end two weeks in Guatemala, the first conducting a workshop for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, and the second for Fotokids.

(Photo by a camera on a tripod!)

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, 29 May 2013 — Reporters, photographers and editors gather for my presentation on backpack video journalism. I was pleasantly surprised at the receptiveness at Prensa Libre, one of the largest circulation papers in the country. Many of the employees here seemed open to the idea of working the craft.

I’ve been in Guatemala conducting video journalism workshops for the Thomson Reuters Foundation and for Nancy McGirr’s Fotokids.

GUATEMALA CITY , Guatemala, 26 May 2013 — I meet on the first day of my five-day video journalism workshop with kids belonging to Nancy McGirr’s non-profit organization, Fotokids. Founded in 1991, Fotokids is designed to break the cycle of poverty through training in visual arts and technology.

( Photo by Nancy McGirr.)

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, 24 May 2013 — My video journalism workshop in Guatemala City ended with a group dinner of the professional journalists who participated in the event. They all produced terrific pieces, some of which I’ll be posting here, on my Facebook page, and on my YouTube and Vimeo channels. The workshop was sponsored by the Thomson Reuters Foundation and hosted by Nancy McGirr’s Fotokids.

What an honor to work with, and to help empower, these young journalists, and to pass onto them some of the knowledge and skills that I’ve been fortunate enough to acquire over the years.

I begin another workshop here on Sunday, this time with Nancy’s Fotokids.

WASHINGTON, DC, 18 May 2013 — During a trip to Venezuela last week, I visited the headquarters of Ultimas Noticias, one of the more widely read newspapers in the country and part of a broad and multifaceted media operation. The visit was part of a summer tour of presentations and workshops in Panama, Venezuela, Guatemala and Great Britain.

Below, members of the visual journalism team.

PANAMA CITY, Panama, 8 May 2013 — During my visit, I had the opportunity to breakfast with some of the key owners of Panamanian media outlets. From left are Juan Luis Batista, Bolivar Aleman, Guido Rodriguez, myself, Julia McKay of the U.S. Embassy in Panama, Rafael Candaneda, Guillermo A. Adames and Hernan Posada.

We had the opportunity to discuss how technology had opened up vastly greater opportunities for media owners as well as practitioners, and how citizen journalism has become an increasingly important component of the broader journalism landscape. The breakfast was held at the Club Union.

Below, the view outside Club Union.

PANAMA CITY, Panama, 7 May 2013 — Panamanian students and I discuss “backpack video journalism” and “citizen journalism” at the University of Panama. These students were eager to learn about how technology grants the power to communicate today like never before.

I had the opportunity to share some of the black-and-white images I made for United Press International (UPI) in 1979 while covering the Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua.

(Photos by Julie McKay)

PANAMA CITY, Panama, 7 May 2013 — During an interview with “TVN Panama” host Roly Sterling, we discussed how technology has equipped so many with the ability to have a voice, and to raise that voice, on issues important to all of us. I participated in Roly’s show today as part of a State Department-sponsored trip to discuss “citizen journalism,” one component of the broader methodology that we refer to as “backpack video journalism.”