My Last Editor’s Note for Main Street magazine

I recently heard a UNH professor say something that really struck me:

“Being a student is easy; being a student who is also a citizen is a challenge worth striving for.”

I found this to be profoundly true.

Throughout my time here at UNH I have learned many things, from my professors, my peers, and my friends. What will stay with me are the life lessons, the acts that were universal. It is almost effortless to get caught up in college culture, but what is more difficult is to think about the world beyond the bubble.

Having enough perspective to see what is important to you, what you’re passionate about, why you’re even taking the classes you’re enrolled in – that’s what is key.

The individual student might not think that they have an impact on this university of more than 14,000, but that is altogether untrue. You do have a purpose here; you do have an influence, at whatever level that might be. To the kid in your class, your freshman roommate, your professor, your neighbor, a friend – the effect people have on one another can be profound.

I’m constantly amazed at the amount of students engaged in their education, taking their role in our community seriously. I thank you all for making this university a better place.

So whatever you came here for, a bachelors in liberal arts or a good time, I lean toward the belief that a college education is just too damn expensive to waste. Participate in it, engage, go out, get wild, do it all.

I anticipate only the best for the class of 2012, and all graduates in the future who continue to pursue their role as student citizens.

Summer 2012 Update: London Olympics

This summer I will be returning to the London bureau of the Washington Post to contribute to reporting on the Olympic Games. You can find my blog on the culture and street scene of London during the Olympics at Around the Rings 2012. I will also be posting to the Washington Post’s Olympics – London 2012 board on Pinterest.

Woodstock Farmers’ Market Celebrates 20 Years

When Hurricane Irene devastated parts of Vermont in the fall of 2011, a local farmers’ market in Woodstock was swept away. I reported on the people and tight-knit community that worked to rebuild this beloved local business for a multimedia project.

On May 28, 2012, Woodstock Farmers’ Market celebrated its 20th anniversary in its newly renovated space. I have posted the link to my short film here to celebrate the premise of WFM: “Eat Fresh! Eat Local!” - May you have your cake and eat it too. Happy 20th!

 

Dan Freund Interview

New Hampshire Media makers is a monthly meet up for media enthusiasts in the Granite State. At the meet up on October 9, in Crack Skulls coffee shop in Newmarket, NH, I caught up with Dan Freund a digital media specialist and host of My Friend Dan.

Scrapertown

Scrapertown tells the story of a movement to get Oakland kids off the streets and onto their bikes.

The “Scraper Bikes,” which are decorated with spray paint and flashy rimmed spokes, was a project started up by Baby Champ “Scraper Bike King” as a hobby, but has become a grass roots effort to get kids to feel like they’re a part of something. Champs says that his big dream is to make a bike shop that also functions as a “fresh” facility for kids to do homework on new Apple computers. For now, scraper bikes provide a positive environment for kids that could be skipping school and stealing cars instead, Champ says.

One part street art project, one part after school program, scraper bikes are an innovation of going green in the hood. The video represents that through music and photos, which are huge in conveying the kids and their culture. The footage of 30 plus teenagers biking in a line through the streets of East Oakland on a rainbow of wheels, sun shining of the metal, is what makes this piece of online journalism. That, and the super tight shots of the teens faces and bicycles. The blend of Champ’s interview with b-roll of wheels spinning, colors, and kids biking mixed with the new age hip hop sound creates a multimedia that feels less like news and more like pop culture – I have to say, I love it.

The clip is from the series “California is a place,” which is a project that documents stories from the Golden State and is produced, directed, and shot by Drea Cooper & Zackary Canepari.

Intended Consequences

This is pretty heavy, but an amazing piece of multimedia and digital storytelling.

Intended Consequences is a narrative not about the 1 million people who perished in the Rwandan genocide, but the women who survived. The accounts of 30 Tutsi women are told through photographs, videos, and interviews by Jonathan Torgovnik of MediaStorm.

This media is so powerful undoubtedly because the stories are so powerful. The women recount their memories of watching their families being murdered, thrown into mass graves, being raped, and watching after their children now, who are not really theirs.

Some parts of the narrative are simply told in text, which flash on the screen. It is clear that these are things that are too hard for the women to say. Some words are emphasized as the women recount their memories.

The photographs that accompany the interviews are gripping because of how personal they are. In some the images the women are crying, in others they are holding their faces, and you can see their scars, external and invisible. The varying between video and images is almost indistinguishable because of how vivid the pictures are.

I was so impressed by the compilation of multimedia that I checked the credits for contributers. Aside from a primary photographer/interviewer, there was also a producer, executive producer, on-location videographer, a graphic designer, translator, and studio videographer who put together this piece of online journalism This attention to the production process is not uncommon for MediaStorm, which is an award-winning multimedia production studio that works with visual storytellers, interactive designers and global organizations. They are self described “next generation journalists” who create “cinematic narratives that speak to the heart of the human condition.”

Chasing the Swell

The video “Chasing the Swell” was chosen as a finalist for online video journalism productions by the Online News Association and the School of Communication at the University of Miami’s 2011 Online Journalism Awards. Although they were edged out by another LA Times production, Caught in the Crossfire: Victims of Gang Violence, it goes without saying that The Times obviously has an awesome videography contingent.

For those that want to get into multimedia, a $33,000 prize might be enough to convince anyone. The sum was awarded to eight categories of online journalism courtesy of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Gannett Foundation.

“A Videographer’s awesomely busy year: The making of Chasing the Swell,” by Sachi Cunningham is a 31 minute feature project on professional surfers, their lifestyle, culture, and how they survive. The footage is extensive in range from interviews to scenes. Some of the most impressive images are super tight views of surfers in the actual crest of the waves. Interviews for the video were conducted with many surfers, following certain pros in their pursuit of the perfect wave: Mavericks, one of the biggest wave contests in the world.

Cunningham accompanies the film, which is actually a three part video, with text explaining the process behind the film. He explains looking through microfiche of papers from the ’50s trying to find a seminal photo of big wave surfers to contrast with images of today. The combination of old and new images, video footage,  with audio clips and talking head interviews of pros blend to tell the story of big surfing from past to present.

The video was made to be published through the LA Times for readers.

 

Jackie Kennedy’s Tapes

Jacqueline Kennedy’s “Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy,” released earlier this month, is a prime example of enduring audio.

Her daughter, Caroline Kennedy decided to release the tapes in conjunction with a book to add her mother’s accounts of life with JFK to public history. Through these tapes we get a personal look into the life of Jackie O, who rarely met with the press for interviews. The oral history has humanized the woman and American icon.

Many of the more salacious sound bites have gotten attention in the media, but this multimedia timeline created by ABC encompasses a broader picture of what the tapes say about Jackie and the Kennedy family.

The multimedia timeline of Jacqueline Kennedy “In Her Own Words,” is an integration of excerpts of her speaking with a backtrack of music, film, and images from the time period.

ABC's "In Her Own Words" Timeline

The timeline has interactive Flash features that allow you to click on a date and access images and audio from that period. All of the multimedia (images, audio, and film) is accompanied by a brief sidebar explaining the context of what is happening. The format is so effective because rather than providing only audio, the images and film create an emotion toward the subject.

One aspect of this multimedia that is somewhat distracting, which is unavoidable because of its production by a broadcasting company, is the narration. I would have preferred simply seeing the black and white photos alongside the audio.