Day 26 — Lessons learned

As we discussed in class today, here’s some notes on what we learned this semester.

Equipment

Getting a mic is super important. And get a tripod. This is the bare minimum if you’re phone reporting. And if you don’t have a good phone or your own equipment, you gotta plan in advance so you can get stuff from the equipment office. At some point you’re going to have to learn to use the professional equipment, when you get a job, so might as well do it now.

Class critiques

They were helpful. Having it exposed to 20 other people, you get to see their reactions. It can also help to compare your work to others on your same level.

Sourcing

Find your sources early — before you even get the assignment. There’s three steps: find someone, talk to them, then go back and put it together. So if you’re interviewing right before it’s due, then you don’t have time to assemble the project.

Time

The assembly is much more time intensive than it is for a writing project. Set aside time to learn software independently. It doesn’t really sink in until you have to do it yourself.

Class blog

Follow it because it’s good — content on there for assignment helped you through the projects if you’re stuck. It helped outline of expectations and set high goals for the work. It was good to be able to see student work from previous semesters.

Live coverage

It was good that we did it, but wanted it to be later in the semester. It was actually one of the hardest things of the semester. It put us close to other journalists. You went to an event, and you were live, which was super cool. It is a ton of stuff to do in one day, though.

Good practice

• We got a lot more comfortable interviewing people. Practice approaching sources.
• It was good practice to find stories, come up with the ideas. But it is hard to do.

The best multimedia stories:

• Cover all details, no questions left unanswered.
• Have tons of b-roll, lots of motion, action. This takes more reporting.
• Are very selective with quotes and shots.
• Move along quickly so it doesn’t drag.
• Have high technical quality: clear, steady shots, good audio.