One of the hardest things to teach the print reporters is timing. In print, you just ask the question whenever and write down the answer, or trust to the tape recorder. On video, you have to watch a thousand variables, and then make sure that the on-camera reporter is alert, ready and composed before giving a good count-down.
The reporter here with the camera was a young woman who had done both TV and radio reporting – but had never been on the other side of the camera. One of the points that I try to make most strongly is that in the future, everyone in the newsroom is going to have to be cross-trained in multimedia skills. The newsroom in Ibague is actually one of the better-prepared places I’ve been, since all the reporters and editors there have to be ready to step up and fill in for each other, because they’re such a small operation.