Telling The Story

Since I began telling people my wife was expecting our first child, I received a familiar piece of advice from acquaintances and colleagues: "Welp, say goodbye to the next 20 years!" The implication, of course, is that my priorities will take a back seat to those of my child or children. That's not wrong. Nearly seven months since becoming a dad, I have happily sacrificed and compromised many other aspects of my life to take better care of my daughter. But I have also strove to maintain my own ambitions and desires, in a way that fits best my new schedule and responsibilities. This podcast is one example. It's suddenly a challenge to conduct podcast interviews from home. During the day I'm typically at work. In the evenings, I try to keep my voice down so my daughter can sleep. As a result I have interviewed fewer guests for my podcast in the last six months, but I have tried to produce new episodes on a semi-consistent basis. The solution? These shorter episodes that double as spoken-word recitations of my r

One good National Murrow winner deserves another. On my last Telling the Story podcast, I interviewed WTVF-TV's Catherine Steward, who won a Large Market TV station National Edward R. Murrow award for Excellence in Sound. She gave an invaluable breakdown of her brilliant production, from her techniques when shooting video to her commitment to gathering audio. Her piece seemed like the pinnacle of a local TV news feature, rooted in traditional storytelling. My guest for this episode went a different route. She told a powerful story as well, but she did it with the foundations of documentary: a steady, slow pace; methodically deployed effects, and a soft bed of music. The piece is called "Recovering from Rehab" - a team-up with Reveal and the Center for Investigative Reporting - and its accompanying investigation became a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. In my earlier post about lessons learned from this year's Murrow winners, here's how I described Merrion's piece: It’s just as effective, just as gripping, but

I rarely ask a Telling the Story podcast guest to come back for a second episode. I like to spread the audio wealth and interview as many storytellers and journalists as possible to provide a full spectrum of perspectives for my audience. But when a previous guest wins a National Edward R. Murrow award with one of the most pristine slices of video I've ever seen, I can make an exception. Catherine Steward has captured numerous honors for her work as a photojournalist for WTVF-TV in Nashville. This may be her biggest yet. She took the Large Market TV station Murrow for Excellence in Sound, and the winning piece was a solo effort. Steward heard about a foundation called Strings for Hope that repurposes musical strings into wearable art, made by women who were formerly incarcerated with drug and alcohol addiction. In my earlier post about lessons learned from this year's Murrow winners, I wrote this about Steward's story: It's a beautiful concept, and Steward rises to it with an equally beautiful treatment. She

A few nights ago, I sat in my living room at 3 AM, feeding my daughter while contemplating my first Father’s Day as a dad, when one single moment crystallized my entire fatherly experience: My baby spit milk into my mouth. I couldn’t have planned it. I probably can’t replicate it. I had just pulled Olivia’s bottle and perched her on my lap. I had patted her back to burp her, then clutched her against my chest to soothe her. We had sat silently, her head leaning against mine, when I turned my cheek to give hers a kiss. As my lips puckered, Olivia swiveled her head my way and sent an ounce of milk fountaining from her mouth. Most landed on my shirt, some across my face. The rest settled inside my jaw. Dignity. But it wasn’t her action that encapsulated my life as a dad. It was my reaction. I pffted out the milk, looked at my child, shook my head and laughed out loud in a pitch-black room. I wasn’t upset. I wasn’t grossed out. I felt grateful. I’ve been waiting so long to be a dad, I thought. A little milk in th

The greatest influence on my work last year came from outside my industry. I am a broadcast journalist who's been in the business 15 years, and in 2017 I spoke at six workshops, went to several awards ceremonies, and participated in four company summits. I witnessed a slew of inspiring speakers, colleagues, and leaders. But I transformed my game thanks to Jay Acunzo. He doesn't work in journalism - he actually eschewed the industry when he would have begun professionally - but he sure works in storytelling. He is the founder of Unthinkable Media and oversees a handful of B2B podcasts to reshape the way businesses connect with their audiences. But his primary podcast, Unthinkable, serves up weekly reminders of the value of carving your own path. Acunzo abhors the idea of "best practices". He encourages trusting your intuition and developing your voice. Those qualities might sound familiar. They're the basis of what my podcast is all about, specifically for journalists. But that's the problem. Young journalists

Her credits include the New York Times, NBC Left Field, BBC, and Huffington Post. Her awards include the NPPA, Overseas Press Club, and American Society and News Editors. Her projects include captivating documentaries of varying lengths, shot anywhere from south Florida to East Africa. And she's 25 years old. Emily Kassie has carved an extraordinary space for herself less than five years into her professional career, but it's no accident. She shoots with skillful craft and composition, and she covers heavy topics with an expertise and sensitivity that allow her stories to shine. But more than that, she fights for those topics, which so often get pooh-poohed in mainstream publications and stations as too difficult or uninteresting for a mass audience. She is my guest on Episode #61 of the Telling the Story podcast. I always seek guests who have developed a clear voice and can guide others in doing the same. Kassie fits this mold perfectly. I sensed in our conversation a journalist who knows what she wants to a

Late March and early April mark the start of awards season in TV news. For me, they mark the start of grabbing my popcorn and watching TV news award-winners. I love watching and learning from the best in my business. Last week I published my annual "5 lessons learned" piece from the first-place stories in the NPPA's Best of Photojournalism Video Awards. This week, I interviewed one of the big winners for Episode #60 of the Telling the Story podcast. Ryan Oliveira is a photojournalist at KXAS-TV, the NBC affiliate in Dallas/Ft. Worth which last year captured four National Edward R. Murrow awards and this week was named a Peabody Awards finalist. The station knows storytelling. This year, amidst a tremendously talented team of journalists, Oliveira stood out. He did so with sensitivity. → The post PODCAST EPISODE #60: Ryan Oliveira, photographer, KXAS-TV appeared first on Telling The Story.

My first podcast of the year was inspired by a podcast I found late last year. I have listened to Gimlet Media's StartUp Podcast on and off since its inception. This past December I rediscovered it thanks to a five-part series called StartupBus. The premise? Per Gimlet's web site: "This past summer, 20 strangers got on a charter bus headed from New York to New Orleans. For three days they had one goal: Build and launch companies from inside the bus. And then? Compete against each other." Sound like a reality show? It did to Eric Mennel. The Gimlet senior producer pitched StartupBus as an episode, got on the bus, and realized after two days he had struck audio gold. He turned it into a five-part series, with one episode for each day of the competition. Think about the challenge. Mennel faced the curse of few limits; he had plenty of time and roughly two dozen people who could potentially become main characters in his story. He needed to find them, figure out the main stories, remain open to new events, record

Our jobs as journalists almost always begin with listening. We listen to our communities for story ideas, our audience for feedback, and our interview subjects for a piece's deeper meaning. But how well do we listen to the concerns of our co-workers? Last month the Harvey Weinstein accusations and #MeToo hashtag refocused attention on issues that have never left: sexual harassment and gender and power imbalance in the workplace. I appreciate the strength of every woman and man who has come forward. I hope their efforts do more than capture a momentary spotlight; I hope they achieve systemic change. But change begins with communication, and I choose to point my comparatively tiny spotlight to a pair of journalists who are amplifying the voices of women in TV news. Carolyn Hall worked for many years as an elite photojournalist. Sierra Starks has swung from magazines to TV and now reports and fill-in anchors in Monterey, California. They are the hosts of a new podcast: Women on Deadline, which emphasizes *her* e

When journalism professors ask me to speak to their classes and groups, they typically request I focus on two areas: the craft and the business. They want me to show my work, discuss how I produce stories, advise how to navigate the media landscape, and impart the wisdom of a broadcast professional. These are important topics - but, in my mind, not the most important. In one of my first blog entries, I wrote about what I learned (and didn't learn) in journalism school. Here's what I said I didn't learn: How to tell a story - in the advanced sense, anyway About the cold hard reality of the industry How to battle bureaucracy Here's what I said I did learn: A foundation outside of journalism that I apply to my work as a journalist To think critically about my field That what we do is important, and what we do is valued In short, I learned how to develop my voice. I thought of this when I received the chance to give the keynote speech at the induction banquet of the University of Georgia's DiGamma Kappa broad

How did I know I should interview Les Rose for my podcast? A bunch of journalists told me so, and in rapid succession. Les was the keynote speaker at last month's Sound of Life Storytelling Workshop in Asheville, NC, at which I was delighted to speak as well. After Rose spoke, a handful of workshop attendees mentioned to me they would love to hear more of his advice and wisdom. This should not be a surprise. Rose is a storytelling legend, working for nearly four decades in broadcast journalism and more than two decades with CBS News. The photojournalist and field producer spent seven years involved with Steve Hartman's famous "Everybody Has a Story" segment. Clearly, his credentials are impeccable. But so is his passion. An hour after the workshop ended, I peeked back into the room where it was held and saw this: That's Rose at the podium, showing his pieces to a handful of faithful attendees, hosting his own mini-workshop long after the official one had concluded. → The post PODCAST EPISODE #56: Les Rose,

It was a pretty cool moment. At last year's NPPA Southeast Storytelling Workshop, one of the loudest ovations came for someone in the audience. One of our speakers was talking about the innovative work being done at his company, and he showed a live shot from a reporter and photographer who happened to be in attendance at the workshop. During the shot, for a story about a suspect who left a fingerprint at the scene, the reporter smudged his thumb on the camera, and the photographer panned toward a light that enabled the thumbprint to appear on the camera. Check it out: [video width="576" height="320" mp4="http://tellingthestoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/video-1495075606.mp4"][/video] The workshop crowd erupted ... because the reporter and photographer had made the extra effort to conceive and execute a compelling and eye-catching live shot. Fast forward a year later, and that reporter -- WLOS-TV's Justin Hinton -- has gone from attending a workshop to presenting. He will be speaking with coworker Eva

'Tis the season ... for journalists to focus on everything journalism-related but their jobs. After the May sweeps period comes the month of June, which always seems to be the ideal time for award ceremonies and workshops. I will be speaking at two workshops this month, and I plan to use this space to give each one some attention. If you live in the Southeast, I encourage you to head to Asheville to check out the Sound of Life Media Southeast Storytelling Workshop, organized by my good friend (and former fellow workshop co-director) John Kirtley. And if you live west of the Mississippi, I advise you to check out the NPPA Rocky Mountain Workshop in Salt Lake City from June 2-4. If you need any convincing, just push play on this podcast. John Wilson is the chief photographer at KSL-TV, the Salt Lake station that is hosting the workshop. He is a testament to the power of such events. Wilson began his career with aspirations of shooting Kentucky men's basketball for a living; when he reached that goal at age 23,

Last June I flew to Cleveland to cover the championship parade for the NBA's Cavaliers. I stood in a swarm of a million Clevelanders and witnessed one of the most stellar scenes in sports. I also witnessed one of the most stellar sights in photojournalism: the editing of Chad Nelson. The photographer from KARE-TV in the Twin Cities was, like myself, called to help our sister station in Cleveland. We worked on separate stories, and after I completed mine, I stopped by Chad's desk to say hello. Within minutes, I was receiving a master class in color and composition. I had always admired the care with which Nelson treats his video, but in Cleveland I gained a deeper appreciation. Nelson works at a station that prides itself on its storytelling culture, and he carries that culture in every story he shoots. Last month, it paid off. Nelson received three pieces of extraordinary news: He was named the NPPA's Central Top Region's Photographer of the Year. He was named a finalist for the NPPA's Ernie Crisp Photograph

The morning after he sat down for this podcast, Oliver Janney hopped on a plane from Washington, DC to Norman, Oklahoma. Why? He could not pass up the chance to be a part of the faculty at the famed NPPA News Video Workshop. Janney has a pretty busy day job; he is the senior field production supervisor at the DC bureau for CNN. He monitors dozens of photojournalists who fly all over the world to cover the biggest stories. But he also used to be one of those photojournalists in the field, and before he reached the national heights of CNN, he got a kick-start by attending the workshop in Norman. Janney is my guest on Episode #52 of the Telling The Story podcast. "That one week truly changed the trajectory of my career," Janney told me. "I thought I knew what I was doing before that, and I came out of that week questioning everything, excited, and just fired up." I met Janney two weeks ago when we both spoke at a different NPPA workshop: the Northern Short Course in Fairfax, Va. I truly enjoyed hearing his persp

I have never been to the page of the Facebook group run by my guests on this podcast. I can't get into the group. And that's a really good thing. Sarah-Blake Morgan and Katie Eastman run MMJane, a Facebook group that provides a platform and community for its nearly 1,000 members. The members are all women, and they are all solo video journalists. Such a group is long overdue. A few weeks ago, I released the results of the MMJ Survey, in which nearly 100 MMJs gave their anonymous thoughts about how they view the job and business. I discovered a massive gender gap in the responses. Female MMJs consistently gave lower marks to statements about the solo life, most notably to the statement: "I see myself as an MMJ ten years from now." This is a huge problem for the future of our business. Eastman and Morgan are my guests on Episode 51 of the Telling The Story podcast. I spent 45 minutes chatting with the MMJane administrators about ways to better cater to female MMJs and give them a stronger voice in their newsroo

Let me first say the following: Thank you. I did not anticipate reaching 50 podcast episodes -- or four years of the blog as a whole -- when I recorded my first one in 2013. I have continued to write these posts and produce these episodes, in part, because of the consistent and genuine encouragement I have received from readers like you. That feedback helps keep me going. The other thing that keeps me going? It's a sentiment expressed with beauty and brevity by my guest on this milestone episode: "Always the student. Always learning." I would admire anyone who follows that philosophy, regardless of profession, but I especially admire those who preach it in local television news ... because it can be so easy to do the opposite. The business often seems to conspire sameness, and I strive to find guests on this podcast who never get comfortable or complacent. Fortunately for me, and for anyone who works at WXIA-TV in Atlanta, such a person has been the spirit of our newsroom for two decades. Brenda Wood is the r

How can we help journalism students do better? What are the things journalism students should know before they enter the business? So many of us in this profession, I fear, rarely think about how we welcome newcomers into that profession. I grapple with it often and have written about it in several entries in this blog. I have even authored a how-to book for aspiring local TV news reporters: The Solo Video Journalist, available now through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and the publisher's web site. Vicki Michaelis has taken her own path to help our industry's future. She became a nationally respected and renowned sportswriter, leading USA Today's coverage of the Olympics on six different occasions. She also served as the president of the Association for Women in Sports Media. Then she received an opportunity that she had not foreseen. Michaelis, in 2012, learned of the chance to head the University of Georgia's new sports journalism program. She applied for the job and got it, and for the past five years she has he

This is a special podcast. Normally I have one special guest from the news industry, offering insights about his or her career and advice for young journalists and storytellers. This time, I have four. Episode #48 is a compilation of some of my favorite clips from the past year's episodes of the Telling the Story podcast. I chose snippets that specifically focused on advice for those just getting into the business -- all from some of the best in the business at their respective positions. You'll hear from Jed Gamber and Catherine Steward, two photojournalists who in 2016 were named the NPPA's Regional Photographers of the Year for the East and Central regions, respectively. (Listen to the full episode.) You'll hear from Boyd Huppert, the 100-Emmy-winning, world-renowned feature reporter for KARE-TV in the Twin Cities. (Listen to the full episode.) And you'll hear from Joe Little, who provided great insight for both the podcast and my book, The Solo Video Journalist, which is a how-to guide for young MMJs like

I'll always remember the first time I was asked to speak at a major storytelling conference. I flew to Minneapolis/St. Paul in 2014 to talk about solo video journalism at the Ignite Your Passion workshop. It immediately became one of the most joyous and fulfilling experiences of my career, and it sparked an evolution that led to me co-directing a similar workshop two years later. This past fall, Heidi Wigdahl received that same opportunity. The KARE-TV MMJ discussed the do-it-all process with Twin Cities colleague Adrienne Broaddus and WITI-TV's Jonathon Gregg. She cherished the opportunity to reach a regional audience of solo video journalists, many of whom are -- like her -- in their 20s. Wigdahl has a pretty impressive story to tell. She has risen up the ranks from Rochester, Minn. to Knoxville, Tenn. to her current location, Minneapolis/St. Paul. She now works at a station that is widely respected for the storytelling acumen of its reporters, photojournalists, and MMJs. Wigdahl is my guest on Episode #47