Jake Batsell's Blog: A Gateway to Digital Journalism

#AEJMC11 - Bringing an Entrepreneurial Mindset to Smaller College Journalism Programs

2011-08-12T16:04:00.004-05:00

Thanks for coming to our AEJMC panel on Teaching Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Journalism Programs. My slides follow below. For the "analyze a startup" assignment, my students did simple data visualizations by pulling the news organization's Form 990, entering certain data into an Excel or Google spreadsheet, and using Google Fusion Tables and/or ManyEyes to create bubble charts and bar graphs.

Bringing an Entrepreneurial Mindset to Smaller College Journalism Programs -- AEJMC 2011

View more presentations from Jake Batsell

Intrigued, But Not Immersed: Millennial Students Analyze the iPad's Performance as a News Platform

2011-03-30T01:15:00.002-05:00

My presentation at the International Symposium on Online Journalism at UT-Austin, 4/1/11. This is my favorite annual online journalism conference.

Intrigued, But Not Immersed: Millennial Students Analyze the iPad's Performance as a News Platform

View more presentations from Jake Batsell.

When Enemies Become Frenemies: Cross-Newsroom Collaboration

2010-07-07T19:27:00.005-05:00

I much prefer Mark Briggs' headline for my latest Journalism 2.0 blog post, which offers some thoughts on cross-newsroom collaboration after I spent nine months tracking the early days of the Texas Tribune for Columbia Journalism Review.

Journalism 2.0 Posts: Millennials, Live Blogging, Covering Debates

2010-06-30T19:15:00.005-05:00

My recent contributions to Mark Briggs' Journalism 2.0 blog tackle topics including working with millennials, the benefits and pitfalls of live-blogging a trial, and sorting truth from spin during real-time debate coverage.

“Living Galápagos”: A rare species of digital storytelling

2010-01-13T16:37:00.002-06:00

In this guest post for Mark Briggs' Journalism 2.0 blog, I analyze a stunning student multimedia project: "Living Galápagos.”

Stretch Your Muscles, Not Your Wallet

2009-06-23T22:28:00.013-05:00

At the Knight Multimedia Workshop in June 2009, I collaborated with four journalists on a multimedia package about a donation-based yoga studio in downtown Berkeley. The project's main video, which I edited, incorporates video footage, still photos and audio gathered by all five team members. View the high-resolution Flash version at the project site.

Special thanks to fellow team members Erika Check Hayden, Caryn Rousseau, Cesar Munoz-Acebes and Amelia Estades Santaliz!

I didn't shoot J.R., but I did shoot his ranch

2008-07-03T22:41:00.006-05:00

I'm talking about a video shoot, of course. No telling who you might come across when you take your camera to Southfork Ranch. I found "Dallas" TV show fans from the Czech Republic, U.K., France, Denver and Wapakoneta, Ohio. Our package on the legendary show's 30th anniversary includes my story and this nifty trivia quiz.

Austin or bust

2008-06-13T22:45:00.003-05:00

More catchy music in this video dispatch, where I took my camera aboard Amtrak's Texas Eagle for a seven-hour train ride from Dallas to Austin.

Gas: $4 a gallon. Peppy music: Priceless.

2008-05-28T21:17:00.002-05:00

We've all seen the TV standups and news-you-can-use checklists lately about how to cope with rising gas prices and eke out a few more miles per gallon. In this video, I tried to spice up a well-traveled topic by using music and text slides while veteran DMN automotive writer Terry Box offered a series of helpful tips.

Jenna Bush's wedding

2008-05-05T13:38:00.006-05:00

Residents of Crawford, Texas, aren't exactly buzzing about Jenna Bush's private wedding at the Prairie Chapel Ranch this weekend. But I had fun spending a few days there for this video and story. If you like the video, be sure to check out this new documentary about Crawford when it comes to your town or hits cable TV later this year.

"You can't even take your family to the movies no more"

2008-04-26T00:09:00.003-05:00

With gas prices at an all-time high in Texas, I spent an afternoon at a gas station talking to drivers about how rising fuel prices are affecting their personal budgets. The video, edited by ace colleague Randy Eli Grothe, aims to humanize the impact of skyrocketing gas prices.

Bunnies, ducks and squirrels, oh my

2008-04-22T22:35:00.002-05:00

Videos about cute critters never fail to attract viewers.

Surprise endings

2008-04-12T12:37:00.006-05:00

Web readers who choose to watch a news video are clicking on good faith that the video will be worth their time. Every now and then, it's nice to reward these readers with an ending that surprises them and makes them glad they took the time to watch. My colleague Richard Michael Pruitt pulls this off masterfully in today's video about Dallas area residents enduring their second day without electricity after a ferocious storm. I tried to take the same surprise ending approach in my accompanying story, but if you compare both examples, you'll see how video trumps the written word in taking readers to the scene to experience the moment themselves.

Capturing breaking news on camera

2008-04-04T22:39:00.003-05:00

While many of us love the meticulous craft of producing feature videos that take weeks or months to complete, breaking news events almost always attract the most hits on newspaper Web sites these days. Mark Lorenz, chief photographer at the Salem News near Boston, captured compelling breaking news in this video showing a firefighter's escape from a burning second-floor apartment. (Click on the video on the right side of the screen.) Mark held his shot and let his sources tell the story.

Building anticipation

2008-03-17T18:37:00.006-05:00

This video about a new apartment complex for homeless people in Collin County was my second attempt at a before-and-after approach. I interviewed each subject one month before they got the keys to their new apartments, then returned for move-in day. While editing, I tried to reflect a sense of anticipation in the first half while building toward the climatic conclusion in the second half. I took the same approach last summer with this video, when I shadowed a fourth-grade teacher as she prepared her classroom for a new school year. Does it work?

Willie Nelson and the Dallas Symphony

2008-03-09T22:07:00.005-05:00

It doesn't get much more Texan than this: Willie Nelson, decked out in his cowboy hat and boots, soulfully singing one of his classics backed by a full orchestra. I can't believe I got paid for this, serving as camera #3 alongside DMN videographers extraordinaire Randy Eli Grothe and Richard Michael Pruitt. Enjoy "Funny How Time Slips Away."

Drumroll please ...

2008-03-09T21:49:00.005-05:00

Looking for some inspiration? Here are the NPPA Best of PhotoJournalism video winners for 2008. The Poynter Institute has put together this site to view the winners. DMN alum Rick Gershon, now with Getty Images, brought home some serious hardware. Makes me a little wistful to think of the airplane story and video that he and I worked on together when he was just starting to learn this video stuff.

Texas primaries: More like a three- or four-step

2008-03-09T14:20:00.007-05:00

The Texas Democratic Party's quirky "two-step" primary and caucus process created long lines on election night as Obama and Clinton supporters turned out en masse for caucuses. Earlier in the day, I hung out with Mark Davis at his talk radio studio and heard the conservative commentator conduct a rare phone interview with nemesis Bill Clinton. Even earlier, I posted this video blog where DMN political writer Gromer Jeffers Jr. offered his astute preview of the election.

Cowtown hearts Hillary

2008-03-01T21:52:00.002-06:00

In my latest installment of Texas primary videos, I trekked to the historic Fort Worth Stockyards today to catch up with Hillary Clinton and her supporters at a campaign rally.

Egrets? We have a few ...

2008-02-27T14:31:00.008-06:00

This group of egrets in my Highland Village 'hood usually migrates south for the winter. But in recent years, warm winters in North Texas have spared these birds the hassle of flying to Mexico. (Kudos to the still-unknown-to-me DMN copy editor who came up with the Sinatra headline.)

Step inside the spin room

2008-02-25T16:56:00.002-06:00

Shot two videos on deadline at the Texas Democratic Presidential Debate in Austin, including this peek inside the "spin room" and this video blog analysis by DMN senior political writer Wayne Slater.

Young voters flock to Barack Obama rally

2008-02-20T17:09:00.003-06:00

Throngs of young Barack Obama supporters turned out for the presidential hopeful's rally today at Reunion Arena in Dallas. In this video, a handful of young Obamamaniacs explain why he's their candidate. The energy level at the rally was rapturous, but as my colleague Dave Levinthal points out in the video, it remains to be seen whether all these young voters will show up to vote on March 4.

Ken Burns, are you nervous? Just a little?

2008-02-13T23:27:00.006-06:00

This historical video about Quakertown, the once-thriving black Denton neighborhood that was razed in the 1920s to build a city park, also marked my first foray into the famed "Ken Burns effect." You know the trick -- panning out and zooming in on old, historic photos to give create the impression that the photos are somehow floating. Props to my DMN SportsDay colleague Matt Wixon -- a true renaissance man who manages to cover high school sports, be Dad to three young boys and write a hilarious pop culture blog -- for showing me the Ken Burns trick.

Dole, Daschle talk politics in Dallas

2008-02-07T11:50:00.001-06:00

Former senators Bob Dole and Tom Daschle offered their take on Super Tuesday during a Dallas taping session for Texas Monthly Talks, the weekly PBS interview show produced by KLRU-TV in Austin. Find out here if Daschle wants to be Barack Obama's running mate and if Dole thinks John McCain is too conservative to be the GOP presidential nominee. Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert also was interviewed. Check the schedule in the coming days to see when the show will air in your neck of the woods.

Your narrator: The Wind

2008-01-29T22:40:00.000-06:00

Our spot news videos on DallasNews.com usually rely on witnesses, police spokesmen or other people at the scene to explain what's going on. But during my half hour shooting this video about wind-fanned brush fires near I-35 in Denton, the only cop I encountered declined to talk on camera. So in this case, our narrator was the wind -- which did, after all, play the key role in the story.

Remembering Columbia

2008-01-26T18:33:00.000-06:00

Local photographer Robert McCullough still has mixed feelings about his iconic shot of the Columbia disaster, as I tried to capture in this video. Meanwhile, ace videographer Richard Michael Pruitt went to East Texas to revisit the recovery efforts. The two videos are part of our Sunday package on the fifth anniversary of the Columbia accident.

Fire kills 86-year-old woman

2008-01-08T21:42:00.000-06:00

A space heater apparently caused a morning fire at a mobile home park in Anna, Collin County, killing 86-year-old Alma Nicholson.

One video, two cameras

2008-01-03T18:02:00.000-06:00

DMN colleague Nathan Hunsinger took what could have been a routine assignment -- New Year's Eve -- and turned it into a cinema-quality feat. And how did he manage to capture the countdown both from overhead and on the ground? Two cameras.

"Going once, twice ... sold."

2007-12-31T13:55:00.000-06:00

For better or worse, North Texas foreclosure auctions are seeing a lot more action as the subprime mortgage crisis deepens. In this video, I took my camera to Dallas and McKinney to try to capture the craziness of these auctions as well as the ambivalence of how it feels to capitalize on someone else's failure.

No reindeer for this Santa's sleigh

2007-12-22T10:30:00.000-06:00

Johnny Wicker, the "Taxi Santa", cruises around downtown Dallas in his Santa suit during the holidays. But Saint Nick didn't land any fares during the two-hour stretch I spent with him.

Paging DocuBloggers ...

2007-12-18T12:48:00.000-06:00

Domenique Bellavia and Sean Cunningham of KLRU-TV in Austin have created an Emmy-winning show called Docubloggers that provides a forum for aspiring documentarians to showcase their work. If you have a visual story with a Central Texas hook, send it their way. And if you're just getting started in the video biz, the DocuBloggers submissions page has some great basic video tips for beginners.

Boone Pickens bets big on South Dallas neighborhood

2007-12-10T11:56:00.002-06:00

Jubilee Park, a long-neglected neighborhood in South Dallas, is abuzz with hope now that oilman T. Boone Pickens has donated $6 million to help spiff up the area.

Return to sender? Not so fast

2007-12-05T23:55:00.000-06:00

Poor John Fredricks, 86, can't seem to get rid of a never-ending crush of junk mail. He tried to send two grocery sacks' worth of dead trees back to the hucksters who sent the unwanted mail, but the post office plopped the pile of junk mail back on his doorstep. (NOTE: You now need Flash software -- it's free -- to view DallasNews.com videos.)

Hunting season means big bucks

2007-11-25T18:58:00.000-06:00

Ever spent a day with a taxidermist during hunting season? Neither had I, until I trekked out to Westminster to watch Donna Calvert ply her craft.

Ministering to the NASCAR masses

2007-11-03T09:43:00.000-05:00

For Texas Alliance Raceway Ministries, NASCAR races in Fort Worth present an opportunity to share their faith.

Dinosaur factory

2007-10-26T09:44:00.000-05:00

Huh? A nondescript warehouse in McKinney, Texas, is dinosaur central? Take a peek at a dinosaur factory in this 90-second video.

You gotta have heart

2007-10-24T16:43:00.000-05:00

It wasn't the easiest assignment from a visual perspective, but colleague Nathan Hunsinger does a great job of capturing the humanity of a 13-year-old heart transplant patient and Red Sox fan who is on his way to Fenway Park to watch a World Series game with his doctor.

Playing the ticket game

2007-10-16T11:51:00.000-05:00

Haven't shot much video lately since I've been wrapped up in the crazy, camera-shy world of ticket bartering. But check back soon. It won't be long before I'm back behind the lens.

Kelly Clarkson! Kelly Clarkson!

2007-10-05T00:59:00.000-05:00

OK, I admit it: This is a shameless ploy to drive up my Google hits. But this quick-turnaround video by my DMN colleague Ron Baselice provides a vital public service by disclosing the halftime talent of your Thanksgiving Day experience.

At 93, a high school grad

2007-09-30T23:39:00.000-05:00

In 1934, a strict teacher withheld Ridgell McKinney's high school diploma because she thought he popped his knuckles during an exam. But 73 years later, the school district finally buried the hatchet and awarded him his diploma.

"COPS," canine style

2007-09-27T21:58:00.001-05:00

Ride along with the Dallas Animal Services "sweep team" as they round up stray dogs in the Oak Cliff neighborhood.

99 (OK, about 30) Luftballoons

2007-09-21T13:43:00.000-05:00

Woke up at 4:30 a.m. today -- an EXTREMELY rare occurrence -- to take my camera on a hot air balloon ride on opening day of the Plano Balloon Festival.

Scenes from Jena 6 protest

2007-09-20T13:34:00.000-05:00

Ace Dallas Morning News videographer Richard Michael Pruitt just filed this video from Jena, La., where crowds have gathered to march and rally in support of six black teenagers.

Sights and sounds of ACL Music Festival

2007-09-16T23:43:00.000-05:00

The Austin American-Statesman deserves kudos for its extensive video coverage of the 2007 Austin City Limits music festival, which I attended over the weekend. Here's a sample of the hometown paper's video offerings, with North Texan Ben Kweller providing the audio. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me during a wonderfully spontaneous visit to the ACL studio on Saturday while Wilco was rehearsing for a taping of the show. But there were plenty of cameras on hand for Wilco's sublime set, which you can see on your local PBS station in a few months.

This Year's Best Web Journalism

2007-09-12T14:50:00.000-05:00

Behold the 2007 finalists for the Online Journalism Awards.

New York Taxi Strike

2007-09-12T09:06:00.000-05:00

As newspapers add more video content to their Web sites, video journalists often struggle with the question of how to narrate their pieces. Some do TV-style standups and voiceovers, while others prefer to stay behind the scenes and let sources tell the story in their own words. This New York Times video on last week's taxi strike took a middle ground by introducing scenes with slides of text. Effective?

Maggot Art

2007-09-10T23:31:00.000-05:00

Were maggots Jackson Pollock's secret artistic weapon? Check out my latest video on "maggot art" and judge for yourself.

Welcome!

2007-09-10T22:52:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the new blog. Now that I've started my new "hybrid" gig as a staff writer and videographer for The Dallas Morning News,
I've created this blog to keep track of videos I've produced, as well as others that catch my eye. Please send me links to any exceptional examples of video journalism that you see on the Web. I would like this blog to become a showcase for the very best of visual storytelling.