WASHINGTON, DC, 15 October 2010 — Rebecca Byerly, a participant in the latest Backpack Journalism Workshop, interviews her subject for a mini documentary on a busy street in the nation’s capital. She’s practicing what I refer to a “participatory observation.” That means the art of engaging subjects in a manner that allows them to tell […]
WASHINGTON, 3 October 2010 — It’s not every day that a university professor sees his student’s work in The New York Times. But that’s exactly what happened recently when I ran across a piece by Shaheryar Mirza, a former student in my Foreign Correspondence class. Shaheryar was kind enough to answer a number of my […]
WASHINGTON, DC, 17 September 2010 — I see backpack journalists standing flat-footed with their feet splayed out in the general direction of their subjects and it makes me cringe. A strong wind could blow them over, much less somebody not paying attention and who just happens to bump into them or, worse, somebody who wants […]
WASHINGTON, DC, 10 September 2010 — Below is the first in a series of Bill Gentile’s Essential Backpack Journalism QuickTips that you may find helpful in the field. I certainly have. Please feel free to send any feedback. Bill Gentile: #1: Hold the Camera Properly You have a left hand largely for one purpose: To […]
WASHINGTON, DC, 29 August 2010 — There still is a lot of discussion and debate about backpack journalism, what it is, what it looks like, in which instances it should be utilized, when it is appropriate and effective. So I think it time now to define this methodology again, in greater detail. Backpack journalism is […]
WASHINGTON, 3 June 2010 — Communications Engineering, Inc., (CEI) has announced plans to unveil the Bill Gentile Backpack Journalism System at InfoComm on 9-11 June in Las Vegas. See the announcement here. CEI and I designed the System with the needs of today’s backpack journalists, or “video journalists” as they are sometimes referred to, in […]