Sunday, January 31, 2010

My first multimedia slide show

Oregon success stories



Since becoming Sunday Opinion Editor about 2 1/2 years ago, I've tried to dabble here and there in the new media world, knowing that it's essential to expand my skills set -- not just for readers, who increasingly want their news delivered in different ways, but also for the sake of my career. You can't afford to be Old School in a New School world.

Accordingly, I've moderated live chats between readers and writers; arranged studio interviews for an in-house videographer; edited audio; learned to download visuals to enhance our Opinion blog; and even shot and edited video for a project last year.

So it's with a fair amount of pride that I note my latest baby step forward: a narrated slideshow to go with a project on Oregon "success stories" that I conceived late last year. It went up on the blog yesterday, a day before appearing in print as "Beacons of achievement".

First off, I gotta give credit to my colleagues, photo director Patty Reksten and multimedia editor Rob Finch, for helping me boil down the script and making the slideshow look and sound so good. Patty did extensive research in our photo archives to come up with the dozens of images and then recorded and edited my voiceover. Rob came up with the framework for the piece and provided invaluable technical assistance to both Patty and me.

Getting this one under my belt feels good for a number of reasons: 1. It gave me greater appreciation for all the parts that must come together for a successful piece; 2. It gave me confidence that I can do this again; 3. It nudges me to think of more -- and different -- multimedia ideas to complement what we do in print.

I spent an extra two-plus hours at work Friday night, finishing off the blog post, but I'm glad I did. IMHO, I think it was worth it.

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