Any of my current or former students will remember how much I emphasize “collaboration” when it comes to the field of broadcast journalism. Put simply, in our craft it is virtually impossible to do what we do alone. (At the very least, somebody has to help carry all of that equipment…)
Good journalists don’t keep secrets from their coworkers. Instead, they discuss stories and leads with them. In the process, they often find out new, essential information or discover how story elements might be better communicated.
Journalism.co.uk posted a nice feature recently on how the editors at the 13 international editions of HuffPost (formerly the Huffington Post) collaborated on a story about air pollution. The project made clear the global dimensions of this problem, how in some places simply breathing the air is a health hazard, and the sad fact that low-income communities always seem to be at the greatest risk.
It’s a thoughtful, important, and alarming series.
Perhaps it is not coincidental, but as we shiver here in New York, I have more reports on what some of our graduates are doing in warmer places…
Danielle Beckford posted some good news on Facebook over the weekend:
“Got an amazing opportunity to do what I love to do, report on the top social media trending topics for the week on @dailyflash.tv… Catch me on America’s favorite TV happy hour this Monday.”
Daily Flash TV is one of those cross-platform news services, which appears on TV stations across the country, while also have a strong social media presence. Another fabulous job, Danielle!
Far further south, where it is in fact summer, Vanessa Lorenzini is working as a multimedia reporter at TV Cultura in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Via LinkedIn she wrote:
“Thanks to everything I learned at NYFA, now I can work all by myself. I record, interview, write the scripts and record the voiceovers. I am really happy.”
That’s wonderful to hear, Vanessa. I still show students a story Vanessa did about how to keep your pet dog safe during cold New York City winters…
And speaking about chilly New York, recent graduate and now former Teaching Assistant Hannah Palmhagen wrote me via good old-fashioned email about the job she has at a financial consulting company called Open Exchange.
“I’ve been here at Open Exchange for two weeks now and it’s great, learning the process and understanding it better. I’m under contract as a Video Editor, although once settling in I will shoot the presentations and interviews with the bankers and investors that we work with as well.”
Fact is, Hannah is so new on the job that she doesn’t have any work pictures yet. So here she is, back when she was a NYFA student, using one of Broadcast Journalism program’s Canon C300 cameras to shoot a story. Congratulations, Hannah!
by nyfa