video2zero

If there were ever a search for the historical prototypes of modern videojournalism then surely Michael Apted’s 7-UP series would figure large. Number 8 should be arriving soon, if the series is still alive.

A brief description from MA of his epiphany with regard to video and objectivity:

“Personally, I think I was deluding myself for the first few films, thinking I was making this big political statement about the English social class system. Then I brought the film to America, somewhat reluctantly; I didn’t think Americans would understand it…

But Americans understood the films very well. Then it occurred to me that maybe what I was doing was something quite different from what I thought I was doing. I was making a much more humanitarian film — I was making something about an experience that’s shared by everyone on the planet, and not particularly just about England. The series is in England, but it’s about something more than living in England, it’s about being alive. That was an epiphany for me, strange as it might seem, and that, in some ways, relaxed me a bit. I wasn’t hammering on about politics and about how awful it is to have grown up in England during those periods anymore, and it kind of relaxed the film a bit, gave it more room to breathe.

All I have to do is show up, not try and preempt what they’re going to say, not try and guide people through it, not try and have them say what I think they should say. I have to try and take myself out of the equation and let them speak.” pbs

Photo by Joe Mahoney

An eloquent post by Rocky Mountain News sports editor Chuck Hickey on sportsjournalists.com:

My thanks for everyone’s thoughts. We all had a sense this day was coming. I woke up this morning with a sense of dread, that it was happening. I work a side job from home in the mornings and decided to work in the building today.

Then there were outside photographers hanging out in the lobby. There was a sense of dread all morning.

Then the e-mail just before noon.

Tomorrow is the last paper. It will be more of a commemorative section. 52-page no-ad wraparound about the Rocky and its people. News inside, but not as much.

We will have limited access to the building after tomorrow. No access to e-mail or our phones or computers. So get everything out by tonight.

Tomorrow, we come in and will go over the financial situation.

We are getting two months of pay, per the WARN act. Our last check for that will be May 8. Which is just great. It’s my 40th birthday.

Scripps is negotiating with the Guild on a severance package, and Scripps says they expect there will be one.

I’ve been coming to Colorado since I was a little kid, when my grandparents retired here in the 1970s. I’ve always wanted to work and live in this market for as long as I can remember. I’ve been working in newspapers since I was in high school. It was like I was born with ink in my veins.

After many tries, five years ago, I left the Miami Herald as the Sunday sports editor for what was a dream situation for me. Living and working in Denver.

I don’t regret it for one minute.

It’s crushing. It’s devastating. But, life will go on. I’ve got great friends. Great family. A great support group.

And if you go to the Rocky home page, I guess they decided to make me the poster face (for now) of the situation. That’s me with my head in my hands.” via Michael Roberts westword.com

A few month’s back I mentioned that a low budget documentary from Passionate Productions seemed set to transform the world of dog-breeding.

Today the cause received a major boost: The BBC announced it will not be showing the Crufts dog show next year, for the first time in 40 years. Despite regularly drawing 12 million viewers, the Kennel Club has so far been unable to interest any other major UK network.

Today’s decision follows the BBC1 documentary, Pedigree Dogs Exposed, shown in August, which claimed that intensive breeding of pedigree dogs had led to health problems in some breeds.

The BBC then set up an independent panel of experts to investigate whether it was appropriate for it to continue as the host broadcaster for the famous dog show.

Today the corporation said it was “not able to reach agreement [with the Kennel Club] about how to handle televising the so-called ‘at-risk’ breeds of pedigree dog” and therefore decided to suspend coverage of next year’s event.

….Since the dispute with the BBC flared up, the Kennel Club has reportedly tried to offer the show, which pulls an average 3 million viewers for each of the four shows during the annual championship on BBC2, to ITV and Sky without success. The BBC has broadcast Crufts every year since 1966.” Jemima Kiss

“Dogdom is in uproar. So-called whistleblowers who helped Harrison with her film have been frozen out and allegedly subjected to hate campaigns by traditionalists.” Jemima Harrison president of Passionate productions is unrepentant:

“I got a very emotional email from a senior figure at the Kennel Club after the programme,” she says. “They were incredibly upset. They thought it was a travesty, but obviously the Kennel Club were never going to be happy with the programme. The Kennel Club has remained largely unchallenged for 135 years and it needed doing. That sort of pomposity and arrogance needed puncturing. I don’t really care how many people I’ve upset if it gets a better deal for the dogs.”