Los Angeles, CA —We are now in a truly multimedia world.   TV and Newspapers are on life support because of declining viewers and readership.   Today’s people want news on their terms, instantly, short, sweet and with compelling video. People want to see news on the iPhones and IPads.   They want it while they are between tasks. They seek it out while in the grocery checkout line or when waiting at the barber’s office or hair salon. The opportunities for citizen journalists are starting to surface.   Today the pay may be low but now’s the time to prepare.   You can be creative and lead the pack or be left in the dirt. You need writing skills.   Hopefully you learned them in school. Multimedia is the venue.   That means writing, photography, video and video editing.   You must be a master of all media forms.   You also need to learn how to transfer your work to the Internet.   Most people have some of these skills right now. ...

London, UK --Since the inception of TV news other than a switch to color, the use and abuse of the green screen technology and live on scene live broadcasting not much has changed over five decades.  Suddenly we have the Internet, cheap quality video cameras and big changes are rocking the world of video news delivery.  Television news management miscreants often took great delight in making their talent that left or were jettisoned just disappear. No goodbyes, no thank you, just nothing.   That left viewers to wonder where about the fate of those once familiar faces. Now thanks to Facebook and Twitter that vile practice has ended for good.  That along those bogus non-compete contracts preventing reporter from moving to nearby stations are gone.   However sadly the shrinking TV news audience has cost countless jobs and made reporters in too many markets eligible for food stamps. Making a living as a television journalist seems more challenging tha...

To my visitors:   From time to time I get requests to post the writings of others.  Unfortunately some of these people are really promoting their personal businesses rather than providing information suitable for Crime, Guns and Videotape .  I want more news in Crimefile News but I can’t be everywhere to do it myself. This is where some of my skilled visitors come in. I want your stories.  They must be up to journalistic standards.  I don’t want rewrites of published news stories.  They should contain video or at least pictures taken by the contributors. That means getting interviews of your newsmakers, vetting the information properly and avoiding libel.  Diligent use of public records is a must.  There are few limits on subject matter if the material is compelling and interesting.  Submitting stories about government policies, crimes, courts, corruption or your latest gun are acceptable.  Perhaps the actions a local he...

Boston, MA —Times are changing faster than even the news productions experts could imagine.  Ordinary people are carrying smart phones and sophisticated cameras that can even upload instantly to sites like UStream .  Yesterday the bombing was covered from nearly every conceivable angle by hundreds of cameras shooting high-resolution images.  These images undoubtedly captured the criminals responsible for this mad and cruel act. There were numerous mainstream photojournalists on the scene shooting but for few if any live broadcast cameras their images were not broadcast or published until they were first transmitted to their electronic news gathering hubs for redistribution. Some people were uploading still and video images to Internet sites as they were actually happening.  One thing for sure the world will not have to guess what happened because of the massive presence of cameras.  Courts and the jury will also see many of these images as critical e...

Los Angeles, CA —Back when the mainstream media had money the sensational hidden camera story was all the rage.   Ambiguous privacy laws, deep pockets and lawyers changed the game, at least for well-healed broadcasters. The days of big broadcasters using hidden cameras has ended because of the omnipresent specter of expensive litigation. The landmark case that changed everything was in 1992 when ABC News, PrimeTime Live did a revealing hidden video exposé of the Food Lion supermarket chain’s really disgusting meat marketing deeds. Food Lion was selling outdated meat to unsuspecting shoppers.   ABC claimed the practice was a health hazard but allowed six months to pass before airing their story for the industry sweeps time.   I guess it wasn’t that serious of a health threat after all. It’s a safe bet that Food Lion would never have let ABC News come unannounced in with cameras, inspectors and reporters to show the public what they were actually buy...

Chicago, IL —Today, the popular Chicago police inspired blog, Detective ShavedLongcock has been taken down but for a somewhat convoluted report about alleged harassment by Chicago’s, Better Government Association .  I’m not sure why the BGA would care about an alleged Chicago cop’s Internet publishing that happens to be more than a little critical of Chicago’s corrupt and rapidly collapsing government.  Most of this blogger’s readers refer to him as “Shaved”.  Shaved writes biting messages that calls attention to the vastly disproportionate violence in Chicago committed by African-Americans.  Various local Chicago media operations have denounced Shaved and his blog as racist.   I have to ask, it somehow racist to call attention to and report, that African-Americans commit nearly all of Chicago’s violence?  One only has to go to the morning felony court call at 26 th & California and look at the nearly exclusively African-Amer...

I don’t care where you live on this planet history is constantly being made.  You can either, observe and trust your memory or capture events forever on a quality camera. Trust me making videos pays! I’m a believer in using the raw power of capturing moments that will otherwise be lost forever, especially when there is no discernible cost involved.  When in doubt I shoot video with the best camera I have available. When it comes to video the rules are simple, hold the camera as still as possible, get as close as possible to your subject and let  every shot roll for at least 15 seconds.  Keep the camera rolling gathering more video not less!  Only use the zoom when you can’t come in for the close-up.  Tight zooming without a steady tripod increases camera shake dramatically and shaky video is trash. Always shoot the video horizontal and never vertical.  Your video needs to conform with our wide screen TV sets.   The other thing yo...

Go Pro Camera with WiFi kit Chicago, IL —During the recent NATO protests in the Windy City, there were as many as a dozen people using IPads and IPhones to broadcast live streaming video to the Internet. The images were only as good as the WiFi connections available and the tiny camera lenses would permit.  Some were better than others.  The real breakthrough here was that this technological marvel could be managed by nearly anyone. I spent several hours watching what the NATO protest I-cameras were broadcasting and found it interesting along with some very candid remarks by protesters.   I had to guess the locations they were broadcasting from, by the local landmarks because the camera operators were not professional or even marginal reporters.  They simply let the cameras roll. Perhaps ustream.com or the camera makers could direct their consumers to some places where they could get some very basic reporter instruction.  Reporting on...

Los Angeles, CA —The so-called, main stream media had a uniform approach and lock on news and commentary for decades in America. The 1980s brought Talk Radio and new life into broadcasting and for once, different opinions. Soon the Liberals excessively whined about the Conservative talkers and renamed Talk radio, Hate Radio . Liberals were never fond of our First Amendment except to get their own self-serving message out. The Liberals tried to launch their own talk shows and to a one, they all failed. Americans were waking up and discovering other views! Americans began to debate things like never before. Additionally the political divide in America became more pronounced and noticeable. I personally thank talk radio for exposing the folly and failure of Gun Control laws. Americans finally learned that gun bans, registration and restrictions only had an impact on the law-abiding. As a direct result, concealed weapon carry for ordinary law-abiding citizens is permissible in all but...

Chicago, IL —I was somewhat dismayed that the local news broadcasters are vanishing before our eyes. There are massive layoffs underway and investigative journalism projects are the first to go. The danger here is for an unchecked government gone wild. We all know when the cat’s away the mice will play. As this is happening so-called citizen journalists are springing up everywhere. They are slowly filling the void. Equipment to produce, and distribute stories we can all use is cheap or even free. There is also lots of free newsgathering and technical advice all over the Internet. The easiest way is to simply capture video and still pictures that tell the story and share it with your favorite bloggers like me. It helps to have both broadband Internet service and a $3.00 per month Skype account. This is what you need to send your video or audio recordings and photos. Video and pictures alone are helpful but while you’re there be sure to get interviews from relevant newsmakers and...