mind boggling…
A few years ago I was on one of those panels run by Jeff Jarvis on  The Future of the Media.
In this one we were invited to break into teams to try and figure out how to build a media company from scratch, if we could.
My group was headed up by Andy Heyward, the former President of CBS News.
We banged around staffing and stuff and then a young journalist from Denmark ripped the whole model to shreds.
We could do a lot more with this if we really started from scratch- got rid of the buildings, the carpeting, the staffing, the infrastructure and concentrated on the journalism and the content. The gear is so light and portable, people can work from home.
At that time, someone was just staring to play with that idea.
Arianne Huffington.
Good idea.
Works.
It works so well that we did it ourselves.
Works.
Amazing.
Now I see that ABCÂ News 57 in South Bend, Indiana is building a local TV news operation that could double as a Museum of Broadcasting.
Astounding, actually.
I am particularly taken by the part at 1:57 “and we rolled out new backpacks”.
Backpacks?
Tell me please, please that you are not doing ‘backpack’ journalism with THOSE cameras.
Are you insane?
Or is your parent company The Chirpractic Clinic of South Bend?
6 Comments
Jaclyn Kelley August 01, 2011
Hi Michael,
I am one of the multimedia journalists working for ABC 57 News. I found this article very interesting. Seeing a new TV station start up from scratch is rare these days and I am so thankful to be apart of something like that. We are trying very new and different things everyday and I think we are really changing the definition of MMJ.
One of your other commenters Aaron is right, the backpacks are from LiveU. We can stream live (with a 3 second delay now) anywhere there is a cell signal. Right now we have gone live from a train, a boat, a helicopter, a plane, and a ferris wheel.
So, we are very mobile. I hardly edit at the station. I usually work from my car and I have edited just about everywhere. Many people do take there gear home and can work from home. The main thing is that we are always live on location, which is why we usually edit right where we are at. If this isn’t the new age of journalism then I don’t know what is!
Michael Rosenblum August 04, 2011
Hi Jaclyn
Can you send me links to some of your stuff?
Thanks
m
kenny April 11, 2011
I tell ya, there IS something to be said about a shoulder mount cam. I have a Sony Z7U (about the size of a Panasonic HVX). I love it, but I’ve also added a shoulder mount to help keep my shots more solid. Without the shoulder mount, it’s really hard to hold for extended periods of time. Heavy, yes, but the shots are shakier too. When you have a shoulder mount, you’re resting the weight on your shoulder and keeping the shot more solid.
What camera would you recommend that still does broadcast quality?
Michael Rosenblum April 11, 2011
We produce 15 half-hours a week for cable and we use the JVC HM100. We like this a lot. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/597842-REG/JVC_GY_HM100U_GY_HM100U_ProHD_Camcorder.html
Aaron Weiss April 05, 2011
I believe those backpacks are actual live streaming units, probably from LiveU or TVU Networks. They use cellular bonding to send back a live shot without the need for a microwave or satellite uplink. They truly are state-of-the-art, and arguably not ready for prime time (too much of a tradeoff between latency and signal quality for the moment).
So yes, while the cameras are obscenely large, the backpacks are not necessarily worth mocking.
Within a few years, there will be enough 4G bandwidth to shrink those backpacks down to something pocket-size, but for the moment, you need 6-8 3G modems to get a broadcast-quality signal back over the cellular networks.
Michael Rosenblum April 05, 2011
Fine, but the cameras are absurd. Absolutely absurd.