WASHINGTON, DC, 16 April 2011 — I get questions on equipment all the time. What camera should I buy? What kind of backpack do I use? What about that data transmitter I saw in one of your videos? The latest equipment query was about the HDSLRs, which look like still cameras but shoot video as […]
WASHINGTON, DC, 12 April 2011 — Am still a bit jet-lagged after the red-eye flight from Las Vegas to DC Sunday night but gratified by the opportunity to speak with so many practitioners and instructors at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention over the weekend. Above, some of the attendees watch “Afghanistan: The Forgotten […]
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 […]
WASHINGTON, DC, 18 January 2011 — I’m finally catching up to posting material generated during our December Backpack Journalism Workshop at Maryland Public Television. That’s Andrea Boston in the center, with Esther Gentile looking over her shoulder and Don Sladkin on the left. I’m on the right giving instruction. (Photos by Kelly Donnellan, Esther Gentile […]
WASHINGTON, DC, 5 November 2010 — I’ve recently come across two documents that, particularly after the recent election, are as profoundly relevant as they are disconcerting. The first is a 1958 interview by Mike Wallace of social critic and author of “Brave New World,” Aldous Huxley. The other is a recent speech by Bill Moyers. […]
WASHINGTON, DC, 21 October 2010 — Following is part of a brief discussion I had this week on Facebook with Brandon Tompkins, a friend who asked me about the difference between Backpack Journalism and Video Journalism. Tompkins lives in Dallas, Texas, and is a student at Tarrant County College, majoring in Radio/TV Broadcasting. See http://brandontompkins.com. […]