News

AU Abroad Students Arrive for Fall Semester in Havana, Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba, 28 August 2011 — AU Abroad students (l to r) Paul Barrett, Efrain Ramirez and Emmalee June Kinard get ready to board a bus to downtown Havana after arriving Sunday at Havana’s international airport. Paul, Efrain and Emmalee are among six AU Abroad students who will be spending fall semester studying at Cuba’s […]

Continue reading

“Backpack Documentary Expedition: Nicaragua” Heads to the Field

TICUANTEPE, Nicaragua 24 June 2011 — Bridges to Community staffer Kyla Gallagher takes our “Backpack Documentary Expedition: Nicaragua,” to visit sites where U.S. volunteers will build homes next week. The house-building project is part of the NGOs cross-cultural endeavor between the United States and Nicaragua. My two backpack documentary makers, Martha Dodge and Paloma Jackson, […]

Continue reading

Backpack Video Journalism in Caracas

CARACAS, Venezuela, 25 March 2011 — During the two-day workshop at the Catholic University Andres Bello in Caracas, I had time to walk the corridors of the institution with one of the work-study students who assisted during the event. Below, I discuss the advantages of backpack video journalism with students. (Photos by Alex Rengel.)

Continue reading

Backpack Video Journalism at International Center for Journalists

WASHINGTON, DC, 1 March 2011 — I conducted a Backpack Journalism Workshop for eight new fellows at the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) in the nation’s capital prior to their departure for assignments overseas. During the all-day workshop, we discussed Controlling Idea, Dramatic Arc, the ABCs of the visual language, character-driven documentary and other components […]

Continue reading

Yin/Yang of Backpack Video Journalism

WASHINGTON, DC, 26 February 2011 – The technological advances driving the revolutionary model that we refer to as backpack video journalism enable a single practitioner to exchange ideas and information as never before in the history of mankind. But there is a dark side to this methodology, which empowers lone practitioners to document and disseminate […]

Continue reading

The Technology-Driven Revolution

WASHINGTON, DC, 23 February 2011 — I got a query this morning from a person inquiring about my “Backpack Documentary Expedition: Nicaragua,” coming up this summer. She was concerned that her lack of experience with new digital cameras might be a stumbling block on the journey. Here’s part of my response: “The methodology that we […]

Continue reading

Archives