Video journalism, the process by which one person shoots, writes, and edits video for broadcast or the web, is a form of newsgathering taking hold in newsrooms of all kinds, by professionals and would-be citizen journalists around the world. Some proponents have celebrated it as an improved narrative form, one that uses more intimate, emotional documentary filmmaking techniques than conventional television. Its detractors consider it simply a cheaper way to make news. Video Journalism: Beyond the One-Man Band weighs in on the controversy while addressing two overall concerns: What is video journalism, exactly? And how do the stories created by video journalists compare with other forms of news?
This book presents more than two years of ethnographic research in a wide variety of contexts in the United States and the United Kingdom, including local newspapers, The New York Times, local television stations, the BBC, the Voice of America radio network, and several professional photographic workshops.
In a departure from other news ethnographies, this book takes a somewhat unusual approach in that the author observes video journalists at work in the field, not just in newsrooms, on stories ranging from an urban shooting to a presidential campaign visit. This approach offers a fascinating insider perspective for those in the field as well as those who aspire to it.