Reframing ONE-MAN BANDS as VJs

Today more and more "one-man bands" are popping up in local TV news.


Recently KRON-TV in San Francisco announced it would begin using video journalists, a term some would call a euphemism for one-man bands in broadcast news.

During my time as a broadcast journalist I always functioned as one of these one-man bands. OMBs were typical in small television markets because of the lack of money to hire shooters. Most of the OMBs I know today (as was the case when I was field reporting) long to move on to bigger markets. They want to ditch the gear and hand over the technical work to a photographer while they polish their on camera performance.

But digital ENG technology has replaced the days of lugging around heavy equipment with easy to use, lightweight DV cams. Now management in top 10 markets have good reason to adopt one-man bands.

Some college faculty members are suggesting OMBs are a key part of the future of broadcast news. They say someone who can shoot, edit and report well will have a clear advantage in the job market.

In 1996, during my graduate studies at the University of Kansas I tackled the subject for a research report in a television seminar. I interviewed a number of TV news execs (from Kansas City to Pittsburgh, from local newsrooms to corporate headquarters). Each acknowledged the financial payoff of OMBs and how technology would make it an effective option. Most agreed with the prediction that OMBs would find their way into larger and larger markets.

Some people blame/thank the move on technology. Others blame the renewed popularity of OMBs on Michael Rosenblum. He's credited with reframing the one-man band concept and coining the term video journalist (from my day a VJ was the on camera talent introducing videos on MTV). Rosenblum has been described as being on the cutting edge of the digital 'video-journalist' revolution for more than a decade. He is on of today’s most influential teachers in the digital video journalism field.

Is the VJ the trend aspiring journalists should follow? Should we encourage them to shoot for the reframed OMB positions in this age of media convergence? Should college programs refocus emphasis on video journalism?

Here are some online links to reference as I encourage people to consider the possibilities:

One-man-bands coming to KRON-TV
http://www.lostremote.com/archives/004695.html

Birth of the Personal Journalists

http://lenslinger.blogspot.com/2005/05/birth-of-personal-journalist.html

What's a One-man Band?

http://www.tvcameramen.com/lounge/one_man_band.htm

One-Man Reporting Band

http://www.streamingmedia.com/article.asp?id=8131

The Man Behind the VJ Movement
http://www.lostremote.com/archives/004795.html

One-Man "Video Journalists" Coming to Local TV News http://futurewire.blogspot.com/2005/05/one-man-video-journalists-coming-to.html

Strike Up the One-man Band

http://governmentvideo.com/articles/publish/article_404.shtml

Rise of the One-man Band

http://lenslinger.blogspot.com/2005/05/rise-of-one-man-band.html#comments

NewsLab
http://www.newslab.org/articles/onemanbands.htm

Exploding TV: one-man bands
http://www.unmediated.org/archives/2005/05/exploding_tv_on.php
Trend in TV journalism swinging back to one-man bands
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10966492&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=422128&rfi=6
DV Dojo
http://www.dvdojo.com/who.php

DV Democratizes TV
http://www.medill.northwestern.edu/inside/2002/dvdojo.html

Have Camera, Will Travel

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.03/newyork.1_pr.html

CyberCollege.org
http://www.cybercollege.org/tvp063.htm

RTNDA Education Program
http://www.rtnda.org/training/eje_barton.shtml

Broken News
http://www.tloffman.com/auschron.htm

The Good Old Days
http://dirckhalstead.org/issue9810/bowers.htm

The Rise of the Independent Video Journalist
http://photogslounge.net/issues9.html

Is The Platypus Just Cheap Labor ?http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=0000uC

Weathering the Storm

http://www.tvtechnology.com/features/news/n_hurricane.shtml

Backpack Journalists

http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=101168

Commencement 2005 & FLASHBACK to BC Fest 2005

Rainy weather forced this year's commencement inside the Fieldhouse.

Congratulations to Amy Dalbon, Ian Durham, Sebastian Driver, Laura Krutschnitt, Tandi Lane, Megan Marshall, Ashley Roberts, Pat Sandora, Julie Stolze and Sarah Ubry. They were among the 375 graduates taking home degrees from Westminster's 151st Commencement.

I finally had a chance to meet Tandi's family. Some traveled from Texas and others from Florida.

Meanwhile, Sarah's family is just a few miles away, but I finally met her father as well. BTW, Sarah and her mom, Diane, both received degrees during today's commencment.

I hope all the BC graduates will keep in touch with the gang at WCN and Titan Radio! The network of friends and contacts you make here will serve you well.

I've posted pictures I took with my digital camera.

I tried to find everyone after commencement for a picture or two, but I missed some folks. I apologize for missing Amy, Pat and Megan.

I've included the elusive, blurry shots often associated with "Bigfoot" or the "Loch Ness Monster." Sorry , guys. Which button is for "flash" and which is for "action shot?"

If anyone wants to share their photos with me, I'll add them to my blog! I'm all about blogging and sharing images!


AND FINALLY...A QUICK FLASH BACK TO THE BC FEST IN APRIL... You can click on the picture below to see more from the festival.

And if you missed the mystery video someone made here is a link to it. Just click it or save it to your PC.
You can right click and save it to your PC (hit save target). A broadband connection will probably load/save the file in a few minutes. A dial up could take a while.

CONGRATULATIONS & GOOD LUCK!

We say farewell to the class of 2005 this Saturday, May 14.

Amid the fanfare of commencement ceremonies, hearty handshakes and tearful hugs I’ll be in the crowd with Dr. B and other faculty and staff to witness this milestone.

Thank you for the wonderful BC Festival photo and frame. Thank you for the gathering at Tandi's house last week. I only wish we would have done it more often.

So now it's time to say farewell. I'll miss chasing after you for one thing or another. But now it's time to celebrate.
GOOD LUCK AND CONGRATULASTIONS!

An Invitation to begin blogging NOW &...

DON'T PANIC

If you're registered for BC 601 in the fall, I invite you to create a weblog now for capstone.

Go to Blogger and sign up (it's free).

So what's this blog thing all about?
It's a place for you to reflect and communicate with me and each other (AND THE WORLD) on what you're doing in broadcasting every week. Your BC weblog is where you will explore what you want to do with a career, your job search, your senior project, etc.

What should you blog about?
You will constantly review your professional activities, evaluate your experience and body of work as a broadcaster. You will challenge yourself to improve, etc.
I suggest framing your entry under, "What I did in broadcasting this week..."

You can also discuss current events in the industry to demosntrate you're plugged in to the business and issues of electronic media.

I also encourage you to post links to job resources that may assist you in your future efforts.

Finally, keep your capstone blog PROFESSIONAL and on task. It is about your capstone and broadcasting. I encourage you to review the blogs of your classmates as well and engage in commenting with constructive feedback. However, keep personal matters to a private or separate blog.

BTW- On September 1, 2005, we meet for our first BC 601 meeting. I require that you bring your resume and resume tape or resume CD to that first class. No exceptions.

Are you done with your resume tape?

Are you done with your BC 602/Capstone assignments yet? The capstone presentations are now behind us-- now I'm just waiting on your resume tapes/e-portfolios. And don't forget to put a resume in the time capsule.

If you've actively contributed and commented on the weblogs, completed the required number of weblog entries, completed any outstanding assignment, then you can hope for a fairly positive grade.

BC Fest 2005 PHOTOS!

Here are some pictures from the BC Fest (April 29, 2005).