peter rosen

5 lessons from the NPPA’s Best of Photojournalism 2020 video winners

Commentary, , , , , , , , , , ,

We were all tested in 2020.

Every life was touched in some way by the COVID-19 pandemic, which remains a constant factor in our activities and decisions more than a year since it began. Video journalists faced a wave of limitations and restrictions as we attempted to stay safe while doing our jobs, in a year where our jobs felt more vital than ever.

I was reminded of this as I watched this year’s winners of the NPPA’s Best of Photojournalism awards for video photography and video editing.

Some were shot before the pandemic. Most were shot during. All reflected dedication to the craft of journalism and storytelling – with an extra dose of perseverance.

Here were five lessons I learned from five winning entries:

THE STORY: The Uprising, by Corinne Chin, Lauren Frohne, & Ramon Dompor (Seattle Times)
THE LESSON: Cover the macro and the micro.

After George Floyd was killed in late May, protests broke out across the country. So many visual journalists arrived on the scene and produced moving, powerful stories, often through the raw emotion on display. At a time of massive unrest and racial reckoning, these stories were essential in conveying the anger, heartbreak, and frustration of those in the middle.

I particularly appreciated those that found the big picture through the journeys of individuals.

That’s what this trio of Seattle Times photojournalists accomplish here. They cover the evolution of the protests in Seattle, from the days after Floyd’s death to the creation of the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP). But they deliver this narrative through the eyes of three protesters, each with distinct personal histories and outlooks, to show the micro in the midst of the macro.

(more…)

Introducing The Solo Video Journalist, 2nd Edition, an updated how-to guide for aspiring MMJs

Commentary, The Solo Video Journalist, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I used to be an anomaly.

When I arrived in the 10th-largest market in the country, I was one of the few who worked as a solo video journalist – or a reporter who shoots and edits my own stories. There were maybe a handful of us, and the newsroom wasn’t geared towards our interests.

More than a decade later, the state of my newsroom – and most others – has been upended.

According to the latest RTDNA survey, more than 90% of local TV newsrooms use solo video journalists – or multimedia journalists, or MMJs. More than half of newsrooms in market 51 or lower use “mostly” MMJs, and four out of five newsrooms in Top 25 markets use them in some way. Soloists are no longer a position of the future; we are present across the board in local news, and we’re finding opportunities beyond broadcast as well.

But for a long time, no book existed that offered a comprehensive overview of the position and gave instructions and advice specifically designed for it.

That’s why I wrote one.

Four years ago, I announced the release of The Solo Video Journalist, which featured interviews with nearly a dozen MMJs and broke down every step of the solo storytelling process, from shooting to interviewing to writing to editing.

Today I’m thrilled to announce The Solo Video Journalist, 2nd Edition, with more interviews, significant updates, and advice tailored to the updated landscape of video journalism.

(more…)

Introducing “The Solo Video Journalist”, my how-to book for aspiring MMJs

Commentary, The Solo Video Journalist, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I am a television news reporter for the NBC affiliate in Atlanta, Ga., the 10th largest TV market in the country. But I am also my own photographer, shooting and editing the video that becomes my pre-produced reports. From the start of my day to the finish, I am almost always on my own.

And I represent a growing reality in TV news.

The term “multimedia journalist” gets thrown around in the news business, but in television it has a clear meaning. It refers to a journalist who produces a report from start to finish, combining the jobs of a traditional reporter (researching, interviewing, writing) with those of a traditional photographer (shooting, editing). We now occupy a substantial part of TV newsrooms; per the latest survey, roughly nine of every ten local network affiliates use them in some capacity. When aspiring television journalists go to college, they are warned they will almost certainly start their careers – and likely spend a good chunk of them – as one-woman and one-man bands.

Yet no book exists that offers a comprehensive overview of what the job entails, with the insights and authorship of journalists working in the business.

So I wrote one.

I am proud and excited to announce the release of The Solo Video Journalist, available now on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. It is a how-to guide for a position in TV news that is long overdue for such analysis: the multimedia journalist, or MMJ.

(… or backpack journalist, or VJ, or any number of titles bestowed upon this position through the years. I went with “solo video journalist” because I think that term most accurately describes the job: producing video stories and journalism on one’s own.)

I have held this title since I entered the business more than a decade ago, and I have remained astounded at the lack of explicit instruction exists for those who do it. So many, both inside and outside the business, continue to envision newsrooms full of traditional reporters and photographers, neglecting the vital role MMJs have come to play.

The reality is far different.

(more…)

5 lessons from the NPPA’S best video stories of 2012

Commentary, Favorite Posts, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Last week was a national celebration of storytelling … and you may have missed it.

The National Press Photographers Association, or NPPA, announced the winners in its annual Best of Photojournalism video and editing competitions. This year’s judges selected breathtaking stories from some of the finest video journalists in the country. Most of the winning pieces are timeless; you could watch them two months from now or two years from now and be just as moved as if you watched them today.

Watching the winners this week, I felt one thing above all: I wish I had done better.

I don’t mean “better” in the sense of winning or losing. I have fared very well in past NPPA competitions, finishing in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place in the past three years in their standings for solo video journalists, or reporters who shoot their own stories. Since I joined in 2010, I have picked up an outstanding amount of photojournalistic techniques, gotten to know some talented colleagues, and found myself inspired by those colleagues’ stories.

No, what I mean is more insular: I wish I had done better work this past year.

I take great pride in the work I produced in 2012, but as I watched this year’s NPPA winners, I could not help but think about how much further I can grow as a photojournalist.

I should mention that I do not always prioritize the NPPA way in my daily work. As a solo video journalist, I must focus on every part of the reporting process: interviewing, researching, writing, shooting video, and editing. The NPPA tends to reward, I find, a certain style of story: one that emphasizes shooting and editing first while still valuing the other elements. They typically exalt the more stylistic, emotional stories above the investigative, information-heavy ones. This, of course, makes sense: the NPPA, after all, is an association of visual journalists, and they should not feel compelled to give out awards for writing and researching. But the NPPA philosophy does not always mesh with a newsroom’s philosophy or a particular day’s assignment.

That disclaimer aside, I greatly value the association for what it does so well: provide visual journalists a resource to continually improve their visual skills.

(more…)