I love this excerpt from American journalist and NBC anchorman Lester Holt's foreword to the fantastic book, "Power Performance: Multimedia Storytelling for Journalism and Public Relations". He emphasises the timeless importance of storytelling and the ever-changing roles technology and social media have in the development of the journalistic practice.
'Technology enhances storytelling. With tweeting and blogging we can be a bit more informal. There’s something about the TV camera that implies more formality. We choose our words more carefully because it’s a big stage. But then we get on our BlackBerries or iPhones and start tweeting and it becomes a more personal reflection on the story, what it smells like, what it feels like. It can give people the background and the texture for the entire story.
Shrinking resources are the new model. We see people having to do more than they used to, because there are fewer people in the newsroom. I really love what I do. I love telling stories. The thrill has never worn off for me. I work with a small group of tight-knit people. As we draw down in terms of resources we become more focused and rise to the challenge of getting the broadcast on the air. In a war zone or a disaster zone like Haiti, you have to become creative. I’ve used Twitter, cell phone video and Skype. I probably wouldn’t think of those things when doing a story in Manhattan. But when you’re in a difficult place, you start thinking out of the box and realizing you have a lot of tools in the box. You eventually find the right digital outlet. We have a lot more ways to get the story out, even if it’s just a tweet.'
This lecture seemed to come at the perfect time. As I blogged earlier, I am in the midst of a serious 'twobsession' (twitter obsession), and have obviously become more and more addicted to the blogging discipline. Thus, our guest lecturer - entertainment blogger Steve Molk - was perfectly suited to my current interests.
He began by asserting that each and every one of us involved in the journalistic discipline, as well as elsewhere, have created and must control our own personal brand. A brand that will grow, shape and develop along with us. This brand allows for us to angle the deliverance of a certain story tailored to what we stand for, what we enjoy, who we are.
Interestingly, he described the label "blogger" as cringeworthy. To be honest, when I first learnt that we were required to write a blog for this course, I cringed myself despite having always loved many other blogs. I was not at all looking forward to the process, in fact dreading it would not be an understatement. However, as I began to write about the lectures and blog about my personal interests, I began to love it. I savour the moments where I sit down and blog about certain things. Now, when I see something or remember something I love, I immediately think to blog it. Despite my newfound love, I completely understand when Steve refers to blogging in this negative way. I think it is something that must be put into practice to really appreciate.
Steve, however, emphasises that blogging is becoming more and more influential, particularly in the world of journalism. It is growing from being somewhat naff, to a potential business opportunity - a place in which people can create a mini empire, if you will (such as Mia Freedman with her Mama Mia blog), as well as a place where someone can show their work - a digital portfolio of sorts. No longer are we entirely locked behind what the "media machine" tells us. It is a forum allowing unlimited expression. This raises the issue of who to trust. If anybody can write anything, what is the real story?
This led into talk of Twitter. Twitter has allowed us avergage joes access to the shapers and makers of the world. It is a place where you can ask anybody a question and, if they reply, you can use that information in many ways - one of which is to create a story. It is a great interactive platform which promotes succinct, brief messages in its 140 character limit requiring great restraint! Steve describes Twitter as "noisy". A place which is not only about broadcast, but rather about creating a dialogue. It allows for the instant spreadibility of news, every follower immediately notified of your tweet via their newsfeed. It has opened the world to a unique and different form of news deliverance.
Molk described that the way we understand and interpret the information given to us impacts the kind of journalists we become. He has chosen to write and talk about TV that is topical. He has had some great opportunities to interview and write about figures in the television industry, one of his favourite being his discussion with comedian Wil Anderson:
This is only part one of the extensive interview - such a good interview, take a look at all parts!
Steve's advice was to find the contacts we need and push them - take every opportunity you are presented with and not only that, but make opportunities for yourself. He said something that really stuck with me - "Exposure breeds opportunities" - so very true! Something I will definitely take forward in my career. From these opportunities you are exposed, and from this exposure, you gain an audience (very important!) and offers may spawn. He stresses that this is the forum in which to project your message.
This is where people start taking notice.
I adore Caroline Issa! It's more than her striking Chinese, Lebanese and Iranian influenced beauty, and her enviable position in the front row of some of the most influential fashion shows in the world, but it is her entrepreneurial savviness and timeless style which intrigues me most.
Growing up in a very multi-cultural home, she has lived in Montreal, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Texas, Singapore and London and is now the publisher and executive fashion director of London-based Tank magazine after retreating from a career in finance. I became familiar with Caroline through Garance Dore as they are good friends and she regularly features on her blog as well as Scott Schumann's The Sartorialist. She also graces the pages of notable magazines such as Vogue more and more as she becomes a pronounced figure in the industry.
Her signature tightly slicked chignon and red lip are marks of her timeless elegance. Always donning fashionable and flattering clothing, Caroline is never swayed by passing (sometimes questionable) trends, yet always manages to be trendy. It is a thin line to tread, and she seems to navigate it unfailingly.
In 2009, Caroline helped launch Because London, Tank magazine's digital affiliate mag which closely documents fashion and culture across the world - http://becauselondon.com/ - Take a look, its phenom!
As you all know, Anna Wintour is another of my icons. Her career is one I could only wish to replicate. This film released in 2009 documents the extensive preparation involved in the production of Vogue's 2007 September issue which, to date, remains the largest magazine issue created, weighing over 4 pounds and selling thirteen million copies, it alone impacted the $300 billion fashion industry more than any other publication.
Of course, I saw it the moment it was released in 2009 and have re-seen it many times since. As procrastination urges hit this swotvac, I have keenly watched it once more and realised that with each viewing I uncover something new. This time I have been able to understand the journalistic side of the documentary much more than I had before. I have always had an immense appreciation for the written word and the power of an image, however journalism as a whole discipline is something I have not grasped this well ever before - all thanks to this course!
Garance Dore. As you all know she is one of my favourite people in this world infusing her passion for photography, illustration and fashion into everything she does. This video is to wet your appetite for her series "Pardon My French", which is a compilation of short videos that show her experiences during this year's fashion week. The episode 'Women' is one of my favourites. If you are the least bit interested in the inner workings of fashion week (New York City, Milan and Paris) I cannot recommend it enough - I'm addicted and Garance is my drug!
When two or more journalists get together these days, the talk inevitably turns to the state of our business. We're too busy with cuts and a shrinking news hole to muster the enthusiasm needed to discuss what's required for a narrative.
A few weeks ago I joined a group of journalists in a hotel bar. Soon, it seemed as if we were hanging out in an emergency room comparing our journalistic injuries. And then a woman at the table said the turmoil might make it easier to get narrative into the paper. What she said, and the discussion that I had with her over the phone days later, should be used as a roadmap for those of us searching for our role in this new world. When the storm finally passes, the journalist who understands story, understanding why it matters, will remain productive and valuable, no matter how the story is disseminated. If you want a future, you have to become a storyteller.
"All the talk these days is local, local, local," Pat WestBarker said. "We're also supposed to find new ways to tell stories with multimedia. Narrative stories do all that and more, better than any other type of story."
"For so many section editors," she said, "narrative isn't part of their training. They aren't sure how to use it or what it is." But, she said, there could be a new commitment to trying narrative at small papers willing to experiment because the crisis has forced them to look at ways to attract and retain readers. "What's been done in the past isn't necessarily working," she said. "Papers are being forced to look at different ways to present the news. Narrative should be right there front and center."
West-Barker said that, in her experience, the push for narrative often came from the bottom up. It's something I continue to hear from reporters from across the country. It's a battle that should have ended long ago. She said she had an advantage when she got into the newspaper business because she was an English and American studies major, and she earned a master's degree in psychology. "I wasn't trained to be a journalist," she said. "I didn't have that J-school mentality that a story had to be written a certain way." During her career, she worked in public relations and in corporate. "I was trained to be a writer," she said.
By that, she means she had to continually ask herself what she wanted readers to get from her words. "That's not the newspaper approach," she said. "What we do is just present the facts, and once you get that down, it's pretty easy to do. You crank it out and fill up the paper. Or we pour stuff onto the Web with a lot of posts that no one cares about. Newspapers do so many things that readers don't even remember."
To touch readers, we need stories that require writers to think. What does it mean? What are the message, lesson and theme? It's time, she said, for writers - and editors - to move away from what she calls "pro-forma" features that are passed off as narrative. "What I mean is a story that opens with a quote, maybe three grafs and then the nut graf," she said. "There is no voice, no narrator, no point of view."
Newspapers, West-Barker believes, are at the crossroads. Those run by timid editors hanging onto the past, judging success by how many posts are produced each hour, are in danger of becoming irrelevant to the market. "What we have to ask is what readers respond to," she said. "We need to write the stories that we want to read."
Earlier, I'd told West-Barker that I believe stories help readers find meaning in what seems to be meaningless. "Yes," she agreed. "What makes humans human, different from the apes, is that our purpose in life is to make sense of our lives. At the heart of our existence is narrative, a story about who we are."
Tom Hallman, 'Survive the storm with narrative' (2009) 97, The Quill, 35
These may be completely foreign names to you. If so, all I can say is you're about to thank me big time. Or maybe not...maybe my obsession of American Idol has clouded my good judgement. Either way, please humour me and watch these performances! They never cease to amaze me, and in my opinion rival some of the best in the business.
Winner: Phillip Phillips - Yes, his name really is Phillip Phillips. Laugh as much as you please but his unique musical artistry and humble disposition trumps any issues you may have with this double-whammy name!
We've Got Tonight
Volcano
Movin' Out
Runner-up: Jessica Sanchez - At only 16 years old, her voice is out of this world. If you don't feel like sitting here watching every video I have posted, please watch one of hers. She's remarkable!
And I Am Telling You
The Prayer
I Will Always Love You
3rd Place: Joshua Ledet - This. kid. is. ridiculous. I'm a self-confessed soul music lover, and 19 year old Joshua encapsulates the best of late 50s, early 60s soul music. He is a phenomenal vocalist and has an incredible stage presence. His performances got him 15 standing ovations throughout the season - a record!
'Technology enhances storytelling. With tweeting and blogging we can be a bit more informal. There’s something about the TV camera that implies more formality. We choose our words more carefully because it’s a big stage. But then we get on our BlackBerries or iPhones and start tweeting and it becomes a more personal reflection on the story, what it smells like, what it feels like. It can give people the background and the texture for the entire story.
