Citizen Journalism: Do Something With That Media You’ve Captured
In this day and age of shrinking desktop computers, laptops, netbooks, tablet pads & mobile screens there are endless devices out there to capture a moment or thought or…some hot girl’s (or guy’s) hook up details 😉 So with that said, let me ask you this? Have you ever thought about citizen journalism?
A Different Type Of People Watching
Just the other day I was sitting on my back deck chatting to a neighbor—what up T$—and as we were yack’n up a storm, an army of fire trucks made some wild turns around the corner on the way to a house right (technically) behind us. So, we’re nosy and decided to go take a look.
When my neighbor & I, with my daughter on my shoulders, cut the corner the firefighters were doing their thing, They were hustling as you would expect, and boy was it a sight to see. They kicked ass nailing that fire before it really started going. So I figured why not take some photos and video to capture this moment.
While all the firefighting activity was happening, and I was taking video, I noticed something. I saw about eight or nine people with their iPad/iPhone/Android capturing media. I thought to myself, “Wow, I really gotta hustle here” but then I calmed myself down…why?
The Moment It Clicks Make A Template
Some time ago I had this same scenario play out. Another event in my neighborhood took place, a car/electrical fire, and again there were about ten people capturing media. When I got home from that event I slept on the footage and pictures I had captured. Later the next day I had my “epiphany.” I got all my media stuff together, researched some local rags and put together a rather thorough email pitching my media to the local editors. I uploaded everything to my flicker account and made a set for that specific event and tagged it accordingly. After sending the email to all the local papers I thought nothing about it until I got messages back from them thanking me for sending photos. It was days later but I got my photos published.
Citizen Journalist’s Get In & Get Out
So where am I going with this? While the fire on the adjacent block was getting going, and folks were recording from a fixed spot, I captured everything from different angles and made quick snapshots. In fact, while I was going video and photo crazy a REAL press photographer showed up holding a camera that was bigger than she was…anyway I digress. As soon as I “covered” everything, I (briskly) walked home and pulled up my saved email from my last local press submission, updated everything accordingly and hit “send.”
There Is No “Catch 22” But There Is “Just Do”
Now, the point I’m making here is that anyone can do this. If you’re struggling to make a name for yourself as a media creator, start small. In my case, I look around me for things I can reach. My wife for the last few years has been getting through breast cancer and I haven’t been really able to be here, there, and everywhere but I felt I need to keep my “chops” up. Take these small wins you make and put ’em all together and showcase your work on a portfolio website. Sometimes there’s no such thing as a “catch 22” in the media industry.
What are YOU doing with all that media you’ve got on your phone or iPad? Share your links in the comments!
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