Winning Online

With technology making the world a smaller place day by day, television networks are starting to follow the trend. They are rewriting the way they produce and distribute their news items - via geographically distributed journalists who act “as their own producer, cameraman and editor, and sometimes even transmit live video.”

The New York Times did an interesting article on this. It seems as if this ‘one-man band’ mentality is the way to go - especially in lieu of the many cutbacks in news outlets across the board. The ‘one-man band’ is both an inexpensive and practical solution compared to having a full-fledged news bureau. Furthermore, the overall reach of the news outlet can be extended to multiple cities throughout the country (instead of being nestled in one, single location).

And why not?

If a journalist can write his or her own story, have the ability to videotape and edit the material and then produce a final product (all without the smoke screen of another set of eyes of a person who may not have an overall stake in the story), wouldn’t that provide the viewer a better overall experience? Who better but the reporting journalist to be able to have full control over what he/she produces.

And it’s not just about control - it’s about the overall results. Take me and my role at Winning Strategies, for instance. I AM the ‘one-man band’ - but that doesn’t mean that I work alone. I DO have a wonderful team of individuals who help me coordinate, plan and execute my video projects, much like a traditional news bureau (and funny enough, our office is even set up with the look and feel of a traditional newsroom).

But as I mentioned earlier, the advantage of me being the ‘one-man band’ is that the client gets the best results in the quickest, most cost efficient way. I have an immense stake in the overall quality and output of my work, and I ensure that this attitude and overall result carries over to the client. I storyboard, script, direct and develop all of my work (on top of the aforementioned assistance from our WS team).

Additionally, with current technology at my disposal, I can also get videos out faster to news outlets (in high quality to boot). For instance, a few months back, I shot a groundbreaking event for one of our clients. I had to prepare, shoot the video, shoot the photography, edit the footage on my laptop, export it and FTP it to local news stations - all within a 4 hour period. Was the quality and integrity of the work diminished? No.

I just got everything out (one-man), in a short period period of time - the only way it could’ve been done. It’s either that or miss the opportunity. And I wouldn’t let that happen on my watch.