Telling The Story

Earlier this week, I made an exciting announcement that should greatly benefit the journalism industry. I introduced my new book, The Solo Video Journalist, dedicated to providing a unique how-to guide for TV multimedia journalists -- also known as MMJs, backpack journalists, one-man and one-woman bands, and VJs. The book can be found on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and my publisher's web site. Throughout the book, I interview some of the country's best MMJs -- and journalists period. I use each chapter to break down a specific step of the storytelling process, combining my advice with that of the journalist I interviewed for that chapter. In the case of shooting solo stand-ups, I knew exactly who to call. Joe Little of KGTV is my guest on Episode #46 of the Telling the Story podcast. He has gained notoriety in media circles for his annual YouTube compilation of his stand-ups that have continued now for more than half a decade. (I actually just got sidetracked writing this post while watching one. Check it out ...

Many of us in the TV news business spend the years of our 20s trying to "make it". We expend all of our energy building our craft, learning from others, staying afloat, and climbing the ladder to a point of relative stability in a ruthlessly unstable industry. Then we get to our 30s, and we make a conscious choice to begin to give back. I know I went through that process. It's why I started this blog four years ago. It's why I almost always accept requests to speak at workshops and conferences. It's why I helped organize and direct a workshop back in June. (It's also why I have been working on an exciting project for which I'll be making a special announcement next week.) And it's why I began the Telling the Story podcast, in which I always devote a segment with my guest about advice for younger journalists. My guest on this episode has fulfilled the same calling in a magnificent way. He is the director of photojournalism at KING-TV in Seattle, but he is perhaps even more highly regarded as the founder of Sto

If you want to get to know my guest on this podcast, you need to watch this video: It features a young reporter, standing among legends as finalists for the NPPA's 2016 Reporter of the Year award, awaiting the decision ... and then finding out he won. The reaction is priceless. The reporter is Jason Lamb. After about 20 seconds of straightforward shock, the 30-year-old from WTVF-TV in Nashville gives a heartfelt acceptance speech. He talks about the lessons he learned from the other journalists on that stage. He confesses he didn't really prepare anything to say. And just when he claims to be done, he quickly calls everyone back so he can think the photographer, the ultra-talented (and former podcast guest) Catherine Steward, who shot every story on his award-winning entry. Lamb is my guest on Episode #44 of the Telling The story podcast. We certainly discuss his advice for young TV journalists on developing as a storyteller, but mostly we talk about his most recently high-profile assignment: covering Hurric

I may have said this a time or two in the past month: The Olympics are an extraordinary assignment. I have had the privilege of covering the event three times, most recently this August in Rio de Janeiro. I find the assignment tests me in a variety of ways, both professionally and personally, and provides both unique challenges and wonderful memories. I have not been alone. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of journalists descend upon the Olympics every two years, and they are all tasked with providing a window for their readers and viewers that enables a greater connection to both the Games and their host city. I saw few handle this as deftly as the team at KUSA-TV in Denver. The NBC affiliate (and TEGNA sister station) comes equipped with a team of journalists who consistently make the extra push to tell the best story for their audience. One of those journalists, morning anchor Cheryl Preheim, is my guest on this episode of the Telling The Story podcast. I got to know Preheim at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi and

If you work -- or wish to work -- in local television news, you will want to hear this hour of audio. Last month John Kirtley and I hosted and directed the NPPA Southeast Storytelling Workshop, at which a sold-out crowd heard from a bevy of the best storytellers nationwide. One of the highlights was a panel discussion featuring two people of tremendous influence at the nation's largest broadcast media groups: Ellen Crooke, VP of News at TEGNA, and Scott Livingston, VP of News at Sinclair. I have known Crooke for more than a decade; she has hired me twice, and I fully admit to being a tremendous admirer of her passion for storytelling and desire to change the landscape of TV news. I met Livingston for the first time at this workshop, but I am a huge fan of his photojournalistic mindset and the storytelling culture and teamwork that exists at many of his stations. During this panel, both offered tremendous insights into: the current TV news landscape and what's being done to improve it the ways in which both e

Through the first 40 episodes of the Telling The Story podcast, I followed a self-made rule that I would avoid repeating guests. I wanted to showcase as many storytellers and journalists as I could, so I refused to interview the same person twice. This week, I am breaking that rule. But it's for a good reason. My guest for Episode #41 is John Kirtley, who by day works at Asheville's WLOS-TV as the assistant chief photojournalist. When he last appeared on the podcast, we mostly discussed the craft of visual storytelling. But John, like me, has recently added a second professional title: co-director of the NPPA Southeast Storytelling Workshop, June 10-11 in Atlanta. John first came to me with the idea last March; we tabled the discussion until this January, and once we officially decided to do it, we began a long road of meticulous planning and non-stop calls and messages. Now the workshop is barely a week away, and I invited John back on the podcast to discuss how we hope people will benefit from it. This is a

At the end of this podcast, I joke, "I can retire the podcast now!" Don't worry ... I don't plan to retire it. But I probably could, now that I have interviewed one of the most revered and decorated storytellers ever. My guest for Episode #40 is Boyd Huppert. The feature reporter for KARE-TV in the Twin Cities is widely known nationwide for his absorbing and touching stories, which regularly find their way to NBC Nightly News and the Today Show. For many in local TV, Huppert is an idol -- the man whose career and talents we all dream of having. I can't think of a single storyteller who does it better. In recent years, Huppert has also become well known as a teacher. He works with stations worldwide, speaks at conferences, and last year even gave a TED Talk. Huppert will also, I'm proud to announce, be the keynote speaker at this year's NPPA Southeast Storytelling Workshop, being held in Atlanta June 10th and 11th. I am organizing and co-hosting the conference with photojournalist (and one-time podcast guest)

Before you listen to this podcast, you need to watch a video. This video. This is a snippet from an interview with Will Ferrell, where host Katie Couric plays a clip of the actor's work in college as an aspiring sportscaster. At the 42-second mark, you see Ferrell pontificating about a beauty pageant, deadpanning about the contestants while a co-anchor nods graciously and holds Ferrell's microphone. That co-anchor is John Le, and he is my guest on this episode of the Telling The Story podcast. We all know what became of Ferrell, but his sidekick in that clip has developed an illustrious career of his own. Le is regarded as one of the top feature reporters in the industry and has won five regional Edward R. Murrow awards along with a rising stack of regional Emmys. He is a finalist for this year's NPPA national Best of Photojournalism award for Reporting. He is also a hoot. Perhaps Ferrell's comedic instincts rubbed off on him (or maybe it was the reverse?), but Le is an effervescent presence whose personality

Sometimes we forget the cold hard potential of what we can accomplish in journalism. Chris Vanderveen is a good reminder. (As evidenced from his photo above with the Most Interesting Man in the World, he also knows how to keep good company.) After more than a decade as an award-winning general assignment reporter for KUSA-TV in Denver, Vanderveen applied for a job within his station to join the investigative team. He got it, and he has been throwing journalistic haymakers ever since. Specifically, Vanderveen has produced stories and led movements that have changed laws. He brings a storyteller's sensibility to the often tough-to-digest world of investigative journalism. I-Team stories tend to come across as an overload of numbers and data, except when in the hands of a reporter who can give viewers a reason to care. Vanderveen is my guest on this episode of the Telling the Story podcast. → The post PODCAST EPISODE #38: Chris Vanderveen, reporter, KUSA-TV appeared first on Telling The Story.

Awards season is underway in local TV news. Over the next few months, some of the most prestigious associations in journalism will present lists of winners and honor some of the best reporters and photojournalists in the field. Photojournalists Jed Gamber and Catherine Steward are off to a great start. This past week, Gamber and Steward each received one of the highest honors in the craft: being named NPPA Regional Photographer of the Year. Gamber captured the crown for the East region for his work at WBFF-TV in Baltimore, while Steward topped the Central region after a stellar year with WTVF-TV in Nashville. The award they won prizes consistency and versatility and honors an entire year's worth of powerful storytelling. Watch their work, and you will quickly see why: these two photojournalists care about awards far less than they care about their audience. Gamber and Steward are my guests of this episode of the Telling the Story podcast. → The post PODCAST EPISODE #37: Jed Gamber, WBFF-TV & Catherine Stewar

Remember those commercials where a poor sap cannot stop raving about the delivery pizza he is eating, only to be scolded: "It's not delivery, it's DiGiorno"? That's how I feel at the beginning of every episode of "You Are Not So Smart". The podcast delves into various concepts of psychology, but it almost always opens with a pop culture example that both illustrates and introduces each episode's topic ... not unlike what I just did with the DiGiorno example. But after host David McRaney lures you in with clips from Mad Men or the Twilight Zone, he provides a beautiful hour or so of discussion and conversation that connects on a much more sophisticated level. McRaney is my guest on Episode #36 of the Telling The Story podcast. I reached out to McRaney because I was impressed with both his expertise as a storyteller and his versatility in the field. This is a guy who once owned a pet store (twice!), but he transitioned to journalism and carved out an utterly unique path. He has written for a handful of popular

This is one of the more difficult interviews I have ever conducted. But for journalists -- and, truly, anyone -- it is an important interview to hear. For three years I have come to know my co-worker Jeff Hullinger as verbose, eloquent, wry, and sardonic. Starting a conversation with Hullinger means beginning a singular journey of quips, observations, and insights that can only come from someone of his experience and expressiveness. He has spent three decades as a broadcaster in Atlanta; he has won 19 regional Emmys, interviewed everyone from John Elway to Mikhail Gorbachev, and called the play-by-play on the radio for a Super Bowl. Last week Hullinger did something he -- and 99.9% of journalists -- had never done: he witnessed an execution. The state of Georgia had scheduled the death of Kelly Gissendaner, who had been convicted of orchestrating the murder of her husband, Doug. About a week before the execution, Hullinger learned he had been named of five area journalists who would serve as witnesses. He did

When I first started this blog, many newspaper photographers were staring into a future of cutbacks, layoffs, and competition with everyone's iPhones. Ben Garvin surveyed the landscape from his perch at the St. Paul Pioneer Press. In 2007 he was named Minnesota Photographer of the Year. In 2011 he was named Journalist of the Year by the Minnesota chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Despite the accolades, Garvin knew he was not immune from the large-scale changes occurring across the industry. But this past year, he found refuge by switching lanes. Garvin still works as a still photographer, but now he does it for a TV station: KARE-TV in Minneapolis/St. Paul. And he does it with an innovator's spirit. Last week I shouted out Garvin in my 3 Great Stories segment for a sweetly touching piece about a grandfather and grandson spending the day together at Vikings training camp. Technically Garvin produced a video, but it consisted strictly of still photos with audio weaved in from Garvin's intervie

If you follow the Telling The Story podcast, you have heard several guests describe the process of covering a huge story. But I have never interviewed a guest who had to cover such a story while dealing with the massive personal tragedy it brought. Everyone at KOMO-TV went through it last March, when the station's helicopter crashed in downtown Seattle, killing photographer Bill Strothman and pilot Gary Pfitzner. The journalists and employees in the KOMO newsroom suddenly needed to bring the news of a major story while processing their own emotions. Katie Stern had worked at KOMO for nearly a decade when the crash occurred. She sprung into action and spent the morning as the roving photographer, collecting B-roll and gathering interviews around the scene; then she set up for live shots with reporter Denise Whitaker. All the while, she fought back tears and, she says, at one point could not keep a steady shot because her hands were trembling. Stern is my guest on this episode of the Telling The Story podcast.

A few weeks ago I rounded up some of my favorite podcasts that surrounded a specific theme: why we act the way to do as recipients of storytelling. This week, I continue the "Best Of" tradition with a different topic: how reporters handle the tasks of covering giant stories. These are not the stories that lead the newscast one night and disappear the next. These are the stories that carry on for days and weeks, often commanding national attention (and the national media that comes with that). Such brings us to Episode #32 of the Telling The Story podcast: a "Best Of" edition on covering the big stories. → The post PODCAST EPISODE #32: “Best Of”, Covering the Big Stories appeared first on Telling The Story.

The number of podcasts is mounting up. More than two years since I penned my first post for the Telling The Story blog, I have also had the pleasure of producing 30 podcasts. Each one has enabled me to interview a journalist or storyteller from across the media landscape. I looked back at the list a few weeks ago, and I saw a few recurring themes. One: I have gravitated towards guests who explain why we act the way we do -- not as storytellers, but as recipients of storytelling. These guests are not necessary journalists in a traditional sense, but they have used an expanding number platforms to explore the subject. Such brings us to Episode #31 of the Telling The Story podcast: a "Best Of" edition on how we behave. → The post PODCAST EPISODE #31: “Best Of”, The Way We Act appeared first on Telling The Story.

Before you listen to this podcast, watch this video: This is a compilation from the tremendous, NPPA award-winning photography team at WBFF-TV in Baltimore, profiling the extraordinary week surrounding the death and funeral of Freddie Gray. When major stories break -- and then last for seven straight days of intense coverage -- one can ultimately lose sight of all of the moments that comprise it. But during a tumultuous week in Baltimore, the WBFF team stood out for its riveting images and poignant coverage, which come together in the piece above. That story also sets the table for Episode #30 of the Telling The Story podcast, featuring one of the station's reporters, Kathleen Cairns. "It doesn't matter if your shift ended," Cairns told me. "You go for the story." That's how Cairns and photographer Jed Gamber, who had both just finished their shift the Monday of Gray's funeral, found themselves untethered to a live truck when riots broke out. While the rest of the news team stayed live with continuous covera

Reading Clive Thompson is a markedly different experience than hearing Clive Thompson. On paper (or more likely, online), his work is measured and precise. The freelance journalist has written about technology and language for Wired, New York Times magazine, the Washington Post, and a handful of other publications. He is the author of Smarter Than You Think, a terrific book about how technology has affected the way we think, remember, and operate -- for the better. I have already written about Thompson twice this year for a pair of noteworthy stories that pair appreciation for history with enthusiasm for the future. In each article, he appears in full command of the language he studies so much, and his energy hits home largely because it is harnessed and presented in such a thoughtful way. In an audio interview setting, that energy comes unbound. Thompson joins me on Episode #29 of the Telling The Story podcast, and he comes ready to play. Discussing the evolution of language, his career as a writer, and his

Michael DelGiudice has won more Emmy awards than the number of weeks in a year. Michael DelGiudice has won more Emmy awards than the number of Super Bowls. Michael DelGiudice has won more Emmy awards than the number in a famous Beatles song. Michael DelGiudice, during his 30-year career in television, has won 65 regional Emmys. The photographer has captured a slew of other awards as well, and he was just named this year's NPPA Photographer of the Year for the East Top region -- an extraordinary honor in what he calls "a dogfight" of a competition. But what most impresses me about DelGiudice is not his award count but his location. He has achieved this type of success, and preached the gospel of storytelling, in the largest market in the country: New York City. The Big Apple has a reputation for wanting the hardest of news; its stations fly through their newscasts, rarely staying on one story for very long. But within those parameters, DelGiudice -- along with the reporters who work alongside him -- has develo

A few weeks ago, I raved about a half-hour special ran by WFAA-TV, the ABC affiliate in Dallas, at the end of last year. It featured a compilation of stories shot, written, and edited by widely acclaimed feature reporter Mike Castellucci. And his camera? It was the one on his iPhone. Castellucci has become well known in Dallas -- and, now, among TV news reporters and photographers nationwide -- for his compelling piece of boundary-pushing storytelling. His features actually appear quite straightforward until you realize the equipment he used to shoot them. But give him credit: he saw a need and attacked it, fearlessly flying into both multimedia journalism and iPhone videography. He wound up with an impressive result -- and a powerful niche in his market. Castellucci joins me for Episode #27 of the Telling The Story podcast. "People ask me why," he said, "and I think it was [because of] two reasons. One: I wanted to be first. And, the challenge of it ... I had been doing stories on my iPhone 4, and I just sai