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Matt Flores, a former colleague at the San Antonio Express-News, called me today asking if I know anyone interested in a videographer position at the University of Texas System . Do you want to apply? If so, act fast. They want to hire someone by the end of the year. More info: Purpose of Position Records, edits and publishes video content associated with official UT System meetings and events. Position will work closely with other colleagues in the Office of External Relations as part of... Read Full Story

Alicia Wagner-Calzada, my photojournalist-turned-lawyer friend, is doing a cool seminar in San Antonio on Nov. 16. Here’s more info. Legal Issues for Photographers with Alicia Wagner Calzada – Nov. 16th, San Antonio, TX Do you know what your legal rights are as a photographer? What about your responsibilities as a professional and any potential liabilities that may result from your actions? Do you wonder what that “indemnity clause” means in the contract you’re about to sign? Confused... Read Full Story

Hello there! It takes time and energy to produce News Videographer . If you can, there are simple ways to support this site. If you're already purchasing through B&H; Photo Video or Amazon.com , access the sites via these links to give me a small percentage. Read Full Story

“A federal appellate court has thrown out a class action settlement between freelance writers and online publishers and databases that archived the writers’ work without pay, saying that the pact approved by the lower court did not represent the interests of all class members,” reports The National Law Journal . The settlement doesn’t properly compensate freelance writers who never registered the copyright to their work, the judge says. That group makes up 99 percent of the class action... Read Full Story

Writing for the New York Law Journal , two lawyer columnists trace out court opinions that have examined who should get protection under journalism shield laws. What is the definition of a “journalist” under the laws? Arguing function over form, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has stated: “what makes journalism journalism is not its format but its content” and “the critical question for deciding whether a person may invoke the journalist’s privilege is whether she is gathering news... Read Full Story

Are our civil liberties really worn down this thin? News photographer arrested on Long Island for videotaping police Poynter summarizes the situation: A freelance news photographer was arrested Friday and charged with obstruction after he was ordered to stop videotaping police. An officer told the photographer, Phil Datz, to “go away,” after which he moved down the street and resumed taping. Despite being a credentialed member of the press and standing in a public area around other... Read Full Story

As part of my recent Q&A with Wichita Eagle courts reporter Ron Sylvester , I asked him to point out legal-news videos he’s produced that make him especially proud. Ron highlighted several videos, and I decided to make a separate post because I think if folks really take time so study these examples, they’ll come away with inspiration and ideas they can use in their own reporting. Here are Ron’s answers, edited for style (I also added the frame grabs). News Videographer: Please choose an... Read Full Story

Photo by southernfried on morgueFile (http://mrg.bz/4BwB1O) As a reporter covering courts and the legal profession full time for the first time in my career, I’ve struggled with making compelling video stories. Many of the articles I write are complicated and factual, and they don’t immediately lend themselves to video. To get inspiration and some ammo to try to step up my game, I emailed Ron Sylvester of The Wichita Eagle in Kansas. Ron has been covering courts for a good long while, and... Read Full Story

I produced several videos at work recently when I covered the State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting in San Antonio. I wrote an article for the paper about a major theme at the meeting: lawyers using social media and technology in their law practices . Embedded within the article are two videos–One is a man-on-the-street piece where I asked lawyers how they use social media; the other is a video about the Texas Bar leadership changing out. You can see the Q&A video is basic talking head video; no... Read Full Story

The National Law Journal reports people in France are “outraged” at seeing photos of former International Monetary Fund head Dominique Strauss-Kahn handcuffed, being led away by police in a perp walk. In France, “the press is prohibited from publishing photos of defendants in handcuffs unless the person is convicted,” the story says. I’ve shot stories of perp walks, and they feel downright icky. It feels wrong. And when you think about it, it’s sort of convicting the person in the media... Read Full Story