Five tips for becoming a multimedia reporter

Jaclyn Giovis, top, and Niala Boodhoo.

If you’ve been scanning any journalism job listings lately, you’ve likely noticed a preference for multimedia knowledge. Photo, video and interactive skills are becoming a requirement as staffs shrink and newsrooms turn their attentions toward the web.

If you’ve been dragging your feet, I asked two former print business reporters who made the leap into full-time online positions for their advice on getting started and getting buy-in from your editors. Niala Boodhoo is the Chicago reporter for NPR’s Changing Gears project and a former reporter for the Miami Herald. Jaclyn Giovis is an Associate Web Producer for American Public Media’s Marketplace and a former reporter for the Sun Sentinel.

1. Get training
Getting educated is the obvious starting point for beginning multimedia reporting, and free resources are abundant. 10000 Words, Poynter, Journalists.org and this very site are among the hundreds of places to find basic information on the tools, terminology and even tutorials or webinars to get you started. Find journalists who have the skills you want on social media, follow their work and ask questions. But, don’t underestimate the resources in your own newsroom. Giovis said she got some of her best early training by seeking help from videographers. Both Giovis and Boohdoo also said Knight Digital Media Center fellowships helped them develop their multimedia skills, and numerous journalism organizations offer programs all over the country.

I-Ching Ng from Asia Weekly and freelancer Rebecca Allen interview the owner of The Downtown Deli in Phoenix in the business news video workshop.

2. Start thinking beyond words
Seek opportunities to try new methods on every story, even if you don’t have time to do them all at first. It’s important to start sorting out what aspect of a story is best told through which medium. Boodhoo writes:
“Sometimes you need to just [hear] the audio, or see an expression on someone’s face. One of the ideas that has stayed with me since my early days  is the notion that multimedia shouldn’t be a Christmas tree approach: You don’t want to just take a print story, or a broadcast story, and dress it up with multimedia ornaments to make it go online. The best way to do multimedia is to use the strengths of that media to tell that specific part of the story.”

3. Practice

Take your equipment and work on your skills as you report. “You have to learn by doing,” said Giovis, who also used her down time to familiarize herself with editing software, cameras and script-writing. Boohdoo uses her HTC Incredible Android phone and a Flip video camera to capture photos and videos while reporting, and she says she’s always thinking about which media best tell the story.  “You have to have a sense that it’s OK to learn through trial and error,” Giovis said.

4. Collaborate
Photographers, videographers, editors and visual journalists in your newsroom can be invaluable in helping you understand how to create new media. “Try to think about the total package, and let others in,” Giovis said. “Go to people who have expertise with your idea and just bounce it off of each other.” Giovis also cited the importance of getting edited to improve. Boodhoo and Giovis  recommended sharing the knowledge you develop too. “I want to identify people who are interested and empower them to do it,” Giovis said. “I think excitement builds outward and then other people see it and want to do it.”

5. Plan, plan, plan
Managing your time wisely is essential to becoming a successful multimedia reporter, according to Giovis, who said she never would have received support from her editors to pursue multimedia without methodical scheduling. Editors need to think that they’re getting added value and not that they’re missing anything from the initial assignment, she said. And, you obviously still have to hit your deadlines. Giovis often makes a “road map”  to figure out when and how she can execute various tasks during her reporting process. “Planning is so important with this,” she said. “You can really get your time efficiencies down to a science if you pre-plan.”