in my fairly limited experience it’s very hard to let go of something you have researched and shot.

i feel strongly that shooting a piece and editing it should be part of the same process, done by the same person, because one organises a package in one’s head while shooting and knows what to look for when editing.

as it is very difficult to be a ’self sufficient’ VJ doing all the jobs, i think it works best for a news website when you have a team of two people - one VJ who shoots and edits, and one journalist who conducts interviews and writes copy if necessary.

Most that are trying it though just have the reporter do the lot, which is incredibly unfair and means people aren’t getting a good report in either print or video.

I’m getting some good feedback which should be of interest to many Vjs and managers. And yes If I can stress it is Chatham House rules ( which I am a member of, ie Chouse, so I do honour the code).

The VJ evolution is taking some interesting turns, with managers and clients now seeking something a bit more programme orientated, so aside from the survey I’ll be compiling a few articles which have involved talking to a number of figures, from the Telegraph, BBC’s Peter Horrocks, Croydon Advertiser, FT and a host of regional newspapers.

I’ll keep you posted.

thanks again

david
Viewmagazine.tv
Viewmag blog

For accuracy, I thought I’d point out that Newsquest’s web-first policy isn’t really cutting-edge. The Lancashire Evening Post, which is the UK’s first full-integrated newsroom (local or national), has been publishing to web first for two years now and every one of their journalists has been trained to build multimedia stories. That is also the case in for a number of other Johnston Press titles.