February 23, 2012

Where I go from here

By in announcement

February 1st, 2012.

My last day at the AP. Everyone gathered in the conference room to hear the announcement the week before. We were there to cut cake, but I welled up trying to say thank you and goodbye. “Stories come and go, but in the end, it’s all about the people,” I said, blinking back the nostalgia. The memories reminded me how lucky I’ve been these past two years. My co-workers were my first friends in an unfamiliar city, and there was no better place to learn and breathe journalism than the AP. Was I really going to leave a respected institution for an unpredictable future?

Yes.

Why?

Journalism.

What has it become? What will it be tomorrow?

Questions I think about, probably too often. I wedged myself into the industry when things were falling apart. June 2009. Business models were backfiring, structured career paths were crumbling, skill sets were expanding. The disruption was, and continues to be, relentless.

From the safety of my desk, I watched the world ebb and flow to media’s sea-change. Layoffs, Arab Spring, participatory journalism, the rise of Twitter blunders (and firings), app-mania and tech startups. At times, it was reassuring to be sheltered from the upheaval. More often than not, I felt I wasn’t doing enough. I felt I was missing something profound.

It’s true, we are in a time of transformation. An opportunity to re-imagine journalism and give it new meaning. A chance to fix media’s bleeding business model, which to me is one of the most important issues in the industry. The decline of ad and subscription sales have caused companies to lose sight of their value proposition. Instead of a physical newspaper, individual stories are now the commodity, and thanks to SEO, the “quality” of a story is measured by clicks and pageviews. Companies sell ads based on how successfully these stories play on the web and the model we’ve always known supports itself.

Kind of.

For now.

But, in my opinion, this model is detrimental to good journalism. The issue of pumping pageviews is not a revelation, it has become a disturbing reality. Top stories in mainstream media feel like a popularity contest, where the rules are exploiting headlines, creating mind-numbing top-10 lists and using search word gimmicks. What happened to informing (not distracting) society? Affecting change by enriching (rather than perpetuating fear in) people’s minds? It still happens, but not enough. The challenges we face in media are systemic, but redefining journalism begins with the business model. It’s the core of what sustains an organization and how it operates. There needs to be a better way.

These questions sparked a need for answers. Eventually, I was no longer observing, but aspiring to join a movement of people experimenting and looking for solutions from the ground-up. I may not find the answer, but I knew I needed to try.

I left my job because I deeply believe:

  • now is the time to experiment and learn new things
  • this idea is worth pursuing
  • journalism can do better

It was not an easy decision. It’s been over three weeks, and I can attest it’s a long and lonely road ahead. Fortunately, I’m teaching at ASU’s j-school this semester, and learning and meeting interesting people along the way. There are countless pros and cons to flying solo and having a never-ending list of things to do, but I can confidently say I have no regrets.

In the end, that’s all that matters.

 

 

December 12, 2011

Pursuing Your Dreams…Here’s Mine

By in noowah, startups

For the past year, Noowah has kept me up at night. I would lie in bed imagining its future knowing that the idea was still unrealized. But unlike a dream, Noowah felt real.

It’s fascinating when an idea takes root in your head… spare moments become occupied with strategizing, and weekends are replaced with work. After months of trial and error, self-discovery and therapeutic sessions with other entrepreneurs, I am still determined to make Noowah the vision, a reality.

And it starts with this:

In September, I wrote about being accepted into UNITY’s NewU Entrepreneurship Fellowship, sponsored by the Ford Foundation. It was an eye-opening experience meeting other journalists of color who were pursuing their passion. It was inspiring to be among their company.

The second phase of the fellowship has begun, and the public will help decide who will be granted $10,000 in seed funding. One NewU founder in the AAJA, NAHJ and unaffiliated category will be awarded the grant. Noowah is listed under AAJA.

Here’s the one-minute video pitch I filmed at the workshop, but here’s my personal pitch:

Vote for the best idea you believe in.

Noowah is mine, and if I earn your vote, I will do my best to make Noowah happen. Not just because I want to, but because Noowah needs to be more than the blog it is today. Our mission is to help make the world a better place by making stories matter. We want to connect stories about social issues with nonprofits that share a similar cause, creating a community where people can do something about the stories they discover on the site. Noowah is more than a project, it’s a mission I believe in as a journalist, a storyteller and an individual.

I don’t know how this dream will end, but with your vote, your help, I can finally see it through.

Cast your vote here, and feel free to vote as many times as you’d like. The voting period ends midnight, January 3rd, 2012.

Thanks, and happy holidays.

Yvonne

October 22, 2011

Are You Typical?

By in creative cuts, motion graphics, Video

According to Nat Geo, I’m the opposite of ‘typical,’ but it’s all relative.

The video is an ad for Nat Geo’s year-long series on global population, but it reeled me in from the beginning. Who knew demographics could be so cool looking?

I watched the entire clip and I learned a thing or two.

Mission accomplished.

October 12, 2011

The History of Motion Design

By in creative cuts, motion design, Video

“Although this art form has now existed for more than a century, it has literally exploded in the past 15 years thanks to the digital revolution.”

This is why I’m excited about journalism.

What is motion design? This video produced for the Motion + Design project breaks it down.

(Editor’s note: Watch it in full screen.)

October 10, 2011

Q&A: Shooting Timelapses with Dustin Farrell

By in behind the scenes, interviews, q&a, Visual Storytelling

I recently wrote about this stunning timelapse of the Southwest produced by videographer Dustin Farrell. Not surprisingly, I wasn’t the only who was impressed with his work. The video has received quite a lot of buzz on the interwebs since its debut.  I was curious about his process though and reached out to Dustin to learn more. He obligingly took the time and wrote back. (What a nice guy.)

~~~

YR: What inspired you to shoot a timelapse of the Southwest?

DF: The Southwest has some of the most fascinating landscapes in the world. I am lucky to live here and have the opportunity to capture its beauty. The best photographer in the world has a hard time making great photos with poor subject matter. Many times I feel like I’m just taking candy from a baby when I am photographing majestic places like Horseshoe Bend. I hope that people can experience the same sense of awe that I have experienced when they see my video.

YR: Paint us a realistic picture of what the process was like. How much time and effort did it take to shoot and produce the entire thing?

DF: It took nearly a year of shooting to complete Landscapes: Volume 2. I have a full time job as a network camera guy at, Crew West Inc., our family owned business, and finding the time to sneak away for my time lapse trips is always difficult. Many of these shots are several hours away from my home in Phoenix. Once I arrive at the shoot location (which sometimes reqiIes an exhausting hike), it takes usually around an hour to set up. The day time shots usually last around an hour. However, in order to capture enough frames of the Milky Way to make a video I usually shoot 4-5 hours for that one shot.

YR: Why do you think timelapses are so compelling to watch?

DF: Landscapes: Volume 2 is my first viral video. Time lapses are always attention grabbers. I am usually amazed at the attention that my videos get until I remember back to the moment that I fell in love with this art. Being able to see things change that you cannot normally see with the human eye will always be fascinating. However, with the popularity of time lapse the need to push the envelope in order to stand out from the crowd is becoming more important.

YR: What was your most memorable experience shooting Landscapes: Volume 2?

DF: The shot that I will always remember in Landscapes 2 is the shot from inside a cave that shows the approaching storm. First of all, the hike to the cave was brutal with all of the gear on my back. Hiking there was also dangerous because of the broken up rock that I was walking on. While I was shooting, the storm began to approach and I wasn’t very sure if it was going to miss me or not. The shot turned out great though and I even had the company of a mouse all night. Just before the hike out in the morning a park ranger showed up asking me 20 questions. He was grilling me to see if I had broken any park rules but I passed his test with flying colors.

YR: What advice would you give fellow video journalists or photographers who are trying to experiment and be creative with visual storytelling?

DF: My best advice to people in my industry is to stand out from the crowd. Find a niche that you are really good at and perfect it. This is such a competitive industry and one needs to make sure that they can offer something that no one else can.

~~~

Do you have some more questions? Leave us a comment or two.

October 8, 2011

Arizona, the Beautiful

By in Video, Visual Storytelling

Landscapes: Volume Two from Dustin Farrell on Vimeo.

When I first moved to Arizona, it took some time for me to appreciate my surroundings. I was a child of the Pacific Northwest, growing up with the fresh scent of Washington’s evergreens. I wasn’t used to living against a backdrop of prickly cacti and a dry, desert sun.

But I gradually started to call the Southwest my “home,” and began to view Phoenix in color, rather than in black and white. The region’s endless blue sky swayed me at first, then there were the radiant sunsets, and finally the quiet sunrises pushed me over.

Nature’s artwork eventually altered my perception of the region.

Visual storytelling can have the same effect on people too.

There’s something about seeing something that resonates with the mind. Powerful imagery evokes the unexpected. I was personally surprised.

The timelapse video above captures all of the beauty that many, including myself, fail to imagine when they think of the Southwest. It’s what I love most about visual journalism. Words couldn’t fully describe it, but the images speak for themselves.

October 7, 2011

Remembering Steve Jobs

By in tech, Visionaries

“What are we, anyway? Most of what we think we are is just a collection of likes and dislikes, habits, patterns. At the core of what we are is our values, and what decisions and actions we make reflect those values.” ~ Steve Jobs, 1985 Playboy interview

Before Apple’s innovative technology and famous logo, Steve Jobs understood us better than we understood ourselves. He transformed a tech company into a culture adopted by millions. Today, for many, Apple has become a way of life.

The iPhone, iPad and others aren’t just gadgets, they are instruments that help us perform our daily rituals. They help us accomplish what matter most– kindling a long-distance relationship with Facetime, enriching a wilting mind with iBooks–Jobs saw a future where technology and our values coalesced. So he produced technology that seamlessly integrated into our lives, our very back pockets, making Apple products a necessity not a perk. He took something as cold and meaningless as hardware and molded it into a cultural symbol, an individual identity.

Jobs did not do it alone, but he possessed a prescient understanding of who we are and what we want. It didn’t just come down to marketing campaigns and commercials like the one above that made Apple a success. From the very beginning, Jobs created products for us. From the minimalistic design to the intuitive functionality, Jobs knew us well.

There are many lessons to be learned from Steve Jobs’ inspiring life. But for me, his visionary understanding of not only the product, but the people, is why he will always be remembered.

October 4, 2011

Novel Quotes: Hunter S. Thompson

By in books I'm reading, quotes

” I was never idle long enough to do much thinking, but I felt somehow that my instincts were right. I shared a vagrant optimism that some of us were making real progress, that we had taken an honest road, and that the best of us would inevitably make it over the top. 

At the same time, I shared a dark suspicion that the life we were leading was a lost cause, that we were all actors, kidding ourselves along on a senseless odyssey. It was the tension between these two poles– a restless idealism on one hand and a sense of impending doom on the other– that kept me going.”  

~ “Paul Kemp” in The Rum Diary

October 3, 2011

What if Journalism… Was a Video Game?

By in Journalism, tech, Video Games

Video games teach as much as they entertain. They transport us into another world where players must adapt to a new environment, learn a different vernacular and deal with a variety of characters. (Remember Oregon Trail?)

So what happens when journalism is made into a video game?

Would players become better storytellers? Would they understand terms like b-roll and soundbites? Would they learn about social issues and journalism ethics?

It’s still in the prototype phase, but Warco takes a stab at the answer. It is a FPS (first person shooter) game that puts players in the shoes of a war correspondent. Instead of being equipped with an assault rifle, “players shoot and record what they see ‘through the lens’ – framing shots, panning and zooming, grabbing powerful images of combatants and civilians caught up in war.”

I’m tingling.

Australia-based company Defiant Development is developing the game in collaboration with filmmaker Robert Connolly and Australian journalist Tony Maniaty. The idea was initially designed to be a training simulator, but the team ended up creating a more interactive experience. As the creators describe, Warco is “also about navigating through a morally gray world and making decisions that have human impact.”

It’s impressive to see how technology is shaping journalism. Whether its a video game or a mobile app, these technologies are bridging the gap between journalists and the public. If players can “become” a journalist reporting in a warzone, one can only imagine what they could learn in the process.

(Thanks for the link Raghu.)

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