Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "reporter"

The Sacramento Press is hiring: Reporter interns

2012-02-06T20:24:20Z

We are currently seeking highly motivated reporter interns to cover local stories in our community.

Your Role:
As an intern at the Sacramento Press, you will be a huge part of our day-to-day success. Function as a writer and cover local beats. Explore a variety of story types – profiles, sports and event coverage, reviews, press conferences and more. Meet story deadlines and generate story ideas. Be a resource for our other writers, encourage and recruit. Form and cultivate relationships with local businesses, clubs, and resource providers (PIOs, librarians, ombudsmen, historians). You will be armed with the resources (digital cameras, voice recorders, professional photographers) to do on-the-scene reporting and really fine-tune your journalism skills. Most of all, this is an opportunity to be creative and find new stories to tell and identify the people who can best follow those stories.

In addition to writing and editing, build skills to:

Create videos that tell stories
Learn how journalists use Twitter
Better understand your audience
Dialogue directly with your audience

These are the skills you will need to be successful in a changing media climate.

Hours
This position is 15-20 hours per week for 15 weeks. If you are a CSUS student you can earn 3 units of credit, per the guidelines for approved CSUS internships. UC students can also earn units for completing the internship. This is an unpaid position.

Location:

Downtown Sacramento

How to Apply:
To apply for this position, send your resume, cover letter and up to three relevant writing samples to colleen@sacramentopress.com.

News10 reporter shares tips for video storytelling

2011-09-24T01:10:29Z

“The nature of the media is changing,” said KXTV News10 reporter George Warren at Thursday evening’s video storytelling tips and shortcuts workshop, hosted by The Sacramento Press.

Warren is an Emmy-winning reporter/multimedia journalist. He recently celebrated his 30th anniversary working with News10. He started started creating videos when he was a senior in college and has shot with primitive videotapes and 16mm film.

“The equipment today has gotten so good that it’s easy for one person to go out and produce really good content in just a short amount of time,” Warren told the audience of about 30 aspiring writers, journalists and community members.

Warren used his own recent videos to demonstrate examples of what a single person can do to produce quality videos and tell memorable stories in as little as an hour and 15 minutes.

“You usually want to start with your strongest element,” Warren said. “But on the other hand you want to build to the big finish.”

Warren showed an example of this through his story about a shoplifter caught on a surveillance camera stealing $300 worth of merchandise. The piece began with the footage of the woman filling her bag multiple times with stolen merchandise. It built up to the final kicker: the shoplifter was only caught because, at the end of her spree, she filled out a raffle ticket with her full name and contact information.

“Think about how you’re going to start the story, think about how you’re going to end, and the rest will fall into place,” he said.

Warren added that when planning the beginning and end of the story, the reporter must choose strong pictures for both.

Prosumer camcorders and microphone kits are available in the $5,000 range, though small handheld cameras, camcorders and video phones work well and get the job done.

If using smaller cameras, it is important to invest in a tripod, he said. Smaller cameras are very sensitive to any type of movement – even simply the pulse in your hand, Warren joked.

For those serious about video journalism, it is not ideal to depend on the camera’s built-in microphone, he added. Investing in external wireless microphone options allows for improved audio, particularly in windy or less ideal situations.

Images should be shot wide and should not be head on. The subject should fall off-center onto the left or right third.

“Shooting people wide allows them to use their hands and guarantees they won’t lean out of your frame,” Warren said.

Other tips included: let people and cars in the background enter and exit shots; let shots linger as you film; allow natural sounds in the background; shoot more video than you think you need; avoid excessive head room; film in tight, medium and wide shots; and avoid panning and zooming in and out. These practices allow for best overall footage and edit points.

To narrate the story behind the footage, Warren emphasized the use of an active voice opposed to a passive voice. “To be” verbs such as “was,” “is” and “were” should generally be avoided. Action verbs provide a direct approach to conveying the message and setting the scene.

Narrations should be kept simple and should reinforce the videos. The audio should not retell what is already seen on the screen.

It’s important to have a specific shot in mind for every piece of narration written. To reiterate this, Warren shared the common saying, “If we didn’t shoot it, it doesn’t exist.”

Jason Silva, an architect who often makes videos about future projects, said he took away a lot of information about composing the pieces.

“It’s not just about taking shots and building it later,” he said. “It’s about building it first in your head, narrating it in your head and then filming to match that.”

“While I don’t shoot video,” said Trina Drotar, who recently started writing articles for The Sacramento Press, “I thought there were a lot of really good tips that he gave us for even taking photographs that accompany our articles as well as (for) writing our articles.”

Every year, the number of people watching local news on television drops. Because of this, Warren said there is a move toward experimenting with unconventional methods to present news in videos outside the traditional package.

“They’re encouraging us to kind of push the envelope, to be uncomfortable, to take chances.” Warren said. “Anything goes.”

Video Storytelling Tips and Shortcuts Workshop Sept. 22

2011-09-07T21:17:19Z

Thank you to everyone who attended Jeffrey Callison's workshop on "The Art and Craft of Interviewing" last month. If you missed the workshop, you can read the recap and watch the video here.

The Sacramento Press has another first-time workshop presenter for September: KXTV News10 Reporter George Warren.

Multimedia journalist Andrew Nixon taught a workshop in July titled "Intro to Video Storytelling;" we'll resume the topic of video storytelling with Warren's workshop: "Video Storytelling Tips and Shortcuts."

The workshop will be from 6:30 - 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22, at The Sacramento Press office.

Warren will discuss how to produce memorable stories with minimum time and effort. Warren will go over how to do more (interviewing, shooting and editing videos) with less - a staff of one.

Warren just celebrated his 30th anniversary as an Emmy-winning reporter/multimedia journalist with KXTV News10.

He started in the business by shooting his own stories in a small market (on 16mm film!) and in recent years has come full circle - working by himself once again.

Badges will be awarded to participants for attending the workshop. To become a verified community contributor, please bring a government-issued ID.

Our office is located at 431 I St., Suite 107, in the Amtrak station. We are in the same building complex as Starbucks.

We recommend you find parking on the street, bike or take light rail, as the Amtrak parking lot charges $2 per half hour, and we cannot cover the cost of parking. If you take light rail, we will give you two passes when you get here - one to cover your trip here and one to cover your trip back.

To RSVP, email workshops@sacramentopress.com. If you RSVP and decide later not to attend, please send us an email to notify us that you will not be coming so we can have an accurate head count.

Thanks, and we hope to see you here!

“Improve your Writing” workshop aids community members

2010-07-22T21:02:15Z

Tuesday night, The Sacramento Press office was the place to be if you wanted to improve your writing.

Clare Noonan—who has more than 20 years’ experience working as a reporter and copy editor for The Modesto Bee and The Sacramento Press—presented to a crowd of roughly 50 people to “Improve Your Writing and Self-Editing.”

The interactive workshop focused on tips for self-editing and common mistakes that Noonan found when reading copy.

“Get rid of the clunk,” she said.

She suggested to “tighten up” writing by getting rid of saying things twice. For example, the phrase “massive aircraft carrier” does not need the word massive, since an aircraft carrier is large enough already.

On the handout passed out to participants for concise writing, Noonan said to make your verbs count, and most importantly, use the active voice instead of the passive. For example: Instead of writing “was able to jump out” write “jumped out.”

She also said to eliminate the obvious. Phrases such as “Graduated college from Chico State” does not need the word college since we know Chico State is a college.

Noonan recommended that writers become familiar with the Associated Press Stylebook — a book she frequently checks for accuracy when editing.

“If you’re a writer, the AP Stylebook is the bomb,” she said.

Participants went through an already-edited article to see how edits are made, and what phrases or words can be eliminated to “tighten up” writing.

“As an editor, my main thing is to do no harm to any of your stories, believe it or not,” she said.

She suggested that all writers read their work out loud before they submit it, even if it means letting your coworkers think you’re crazy talking to yourself.

One question cleared up by Noonan from a workshop participant was the rule of numbers: from one to nine, write it out. Numbers 10 and above should be figures.

Other useful tips included: Don’t use Wikipedia as a source (ever), don’t begin sentences with a clause, avoid slang and alliteration, give full names even if it may seem obvious and use transition between quotes.

“We’re all in love with our writing,” Noonan said. “But what you think is important in a story, sometimes really isn’t.”

Photos by Colleen Belcher

The Sacramento Press welcomes its first staff reporter

2009-04-15T22:11:24Z

The Sacramento Press is, first and foremost, a community-contributor website. Some call it "citizen journalism." Whatever you call us, we are here to give an online voice to members of the community, to cover stories that may be otherwise ignored by the mainstream press, and to provide a forum for discussion of local issues.

We are also working to promote the values of traditional journalism — thorough reporting, balanced perspectives, clear writing — through workshops and internships, while making the new tools of the web available to all. We offer copy-editing available to anyone who wants to post on the site and will continue to find ways to empower ordinary (and not-so-ordinary) citizens to share important information that will ultimately make Sacramento a better place to live.

So, why did we just hire our first professional staff reporter?

I think the answer will become clear as you read the stories being posted by Kathleen Haley, who started work this week as a reporter covering city government and services. Kathleen brings well-honed reporting skills and writing chops that she has worked on for the last decade as a freelance reporter for the Associated Press, Salon.com, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Santa Cruz Sentinel and a staff reporter for the San Luis Obispo Tribune. She has covered all sorts of topics, but her first love is city government.

"My father was on the city council," she told me during her job interview. "I guess it's in my blood."

Not everyone finds the details of city government fascinating, but Kathleen seems to be the exception. She relishes digging through public documents and city council agendas, and she'll get lots of practice in her new job.

We hired Kathleen because part of our function at Sacramento Press is to spread journalistic literacy, so that citizen journalists learn to balance opinion with reporting, in order that all sides on an issue, including those that don't shout as loud as the other side, are heard. She is here to promote journalism's traditional values while at the same time being open to the possibilities of the new media.

Kathleen is fascinated by the notion of citizen journalism, which she will now have the opportunity to help shape in Sacramento.

"I really like how I'm going to be actively engaging the community," she says. "I'm really looking forward to playing a role in making the community aware of the information it needs to function well."

Kathleen gives several advantages to the Sacramento Press. Her stories will make every effort to capture all sides of a story, providing a standard for citizen journalists to aspire to, and she will also make sure that we cover the important stories, regardless of whether anyone in the community gets to writing about them or not.

She also brings with her a belief, she says, "that journalism is a public service. When residents participate in local groups, they can help make decisions that improve their communities. Informed communities are stronger communities; I will work hard to provide news that will help Sacramento residents strengthen their communities."

The bottom line, she says, is that "this publication is different because it talks with the public, not at the public. I’m not going to tell you what to think, but I am going to promote community involvement. Get out there and make your community strong."

Welcome aboard, Kathleen!