Diary of a regional newspaper video journalist

Posted by Martin Stabe on 25 September 2007 at 17:09
Tags: Shropshire Star, regional, video

The Shropshire Star has a great blog on which video journalist James Shaw has been posting regularly about the steep learning curve he has been facing over the last few months as he becomes one of the papers’ video journalists.

On one recent assignment, covering Prince Edward’s tour of a Newport school, Shaw learned some royal etiquette for camera operators: “NEVER get ‘in their faces’” and “be a discreet as possible when following the party and try not to get in their way”.

That was also Shaw’s first attempt at hand-held filming, and he admits the results were below standard: “It was badly filmed, badly lit and took a lot of editing to get to the vaguely acceptable standard that you see before you.”

In another post, written after covering a Telford Tigers ice hockey match, Shaw reflected on being confused with television journalists, and admits to gadget envy: “There is always a hint of jealousy in my eyes when I see the Central and Midlands Today vans draw up - they always have bigger lenses than me”.

The most important thing Show has learned in the first few months, another post says, is to look after your equipment.

More good advice can be gained by subscribing to the blog’s RSS feed.

Tags: Shropshire Star, regional, video