Al Tompkins Multimedia Storytelling Workshops

Al Tompkins Talks About Ethical Suicide Coverage

al — Wed, 08 May 2013 17:15:24 +0000

Three Ways to Make Your Tiny Video Look Like a Big Production

al — Wed, 08 May 2013 15:25:17 +0000

3 Tricks For Your Impossibly Small Film Crew from Vimeo Video School on Vimeo.

Video Interview Basics

al — Wed, 08 May 2013 15:20:55 +0000

10 Steps to Shooting your First DIY Interview from Vimeo Video School on Vimeo.

13 Ways to Investigate a Big Breaking Story like the Cleveland Abducted Women Story

al — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:57:03 +0000

How do you dig up information in a story like the one unfolding in Cleveland when all you know is three women missing for nearly a decade suddenly escaped their captors? When the story broke, government offices were closed, the usual sources were hard to find and neighbors knew next to nothing of substance about the main suspect.

I asked Investigative Reporters and Editors Executive Director Mark Horvit and some of the country’s best investigative reporters to help me compile a checklist of public records that would be useful in reporting a story like this. Horvit and the IRE folks have compiled a first-rate collection of “essential tipsheets” to help journalists with stories like this one that require you to be find reliable information quickly. I also emailed with a reporter who used such tools in her own work on the Cleveland story.

Here are ideas and suggested resources drawn from our conversations:

Some of the Best and Most Interesting Coverage of the Boston Bombing

al — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 21:02:13 +0000

Pew collected this roundup:

“The Pressure to Be the TV News Leader Tarnishes a Big Brand”
David Carr, The New York Times, April 22, 2013

“The Manhunt for Media Screw-Ups”
Simon Dumenco, Advertising Age, April 22, 2013

“News Media and Social Media Become Part of a Real-Time Manhunt Drama”
Brian Stelter, The New York Times, April 19, 2013

“Sunday Shows Dissect the Boston Attacks”
Alex Halperin, Salon, April 21, 2013

“View: The Social Media Tail Mustn’t Wag the MSM Dog”
Felix Salmon, Columbia Journalism Review, April 22, 2013

On the Air

“How to Cover a Story Like Boston”
Radio Ink, April 21, 2013

“View: NBC, Today Show Get Boston Marathon Bombing Coverage Right”
David Freedlander, The Daily Beast, April 20, 2013

“View: Boston Coverage: Diane Sawyer Shines, CNN Struggles, Geraldo Rivera Stinks”
David Zurawik, DailyDownload, April 20, 2013

“View: CNN Stumbles Against TV’s Instant 24/7 Rivals in Race to Cover Boston Marathon Tragedy”
Lori Rackl, Chicago Sun-Times, April 20, 2013

“CNN’s Zucker Congratulates Staff”
Alex Halperin, Salon, April 21, 2013

New Media

“View: The Death of ‘Old Journalism:’ We’re All Journalists Now”
The Daily Barometer, April 21, 2013

“Disaster Science”
Curtis Brainard, Columbia Journalism Review, April 22, 2013

CNN, FOX, AP Get the Boston Bombing Arrest Story Wrong

al — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 21:43:50 +0000

I have collected the minute-by-minute coverage of major news organizations as the story of an arrest in the Boston Marathon Bombing spread like wildfire April 17, 2013.

[View the story "Arrest or No Arrest in Boston Bombing?" on Storify]

The Boston Marathon is in Boston-and Other Things the New York Post Got Right

al — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 17:16:32 +0000

Vanity Fair rips into The New York Posts’ Boston Bombing coverage.

How NOT to Do Social Media

al — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 15:17:44 +0000

The Magic of Stop Action Storytelling-”Her Morning Elegance”

al — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 14:46:36 +0000

How they did it:

Do News Blackouts Really Help When Journalists Are Held Hostage?

al — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 05:34:09 +0000

Do news blackouts help journalists held captive?

By Frank Smyth/Senior Adviser for Journalist Security

An image grab from a YouTube video uploaded on December 18 allegedly shows NBC employees, from left to right, Aziz Akyavas, Richard Engel, and John Kooistra in captivity in Syria. (AFP/YouTube)

At any given time over the past two years, as wars raged in Libya and then Syria, and as other conflicts ground on in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, a number of journalists have been held captive by a diverse array of forces, from militants and rebels to criminals and paramilitaries. And at any given time, a small handful of these cases–sometimes one or two, sometimes more–have been purposely kept out of the news media. That is true today.

News organizations have invoked the captives’ safety in seeking media blackouts. But do the blackouts really benefit the individuals being held captive?