So you want to be a … highlights potential careers for students studying journalism and/or photography.
Sonia Narang is a multimedia producer at Public Radio International’s The World. She previously worked as a video journalist for NBC News, where she reported, filmed, and edited stories for Nightly News Online and msnbc.com. As an associate interactive producer at the PBS international documentary program Frontline/World, she reported and filmed an award-winning multimedia series in rural India.
Narang has independently produced and reported stories for PRI’s The World, GlobalPost, the New York Times,Time.com, PBS NewsHour, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and the San Jose Mercury News. She has filmed, and photographed throughout Japan, India, and the United States.
First State Focus: When most people think of PRI's The World, they think of a radio broadcast. What does a multimedia producer at The World typically do from day to day?
Sonia Narang: I'm the first multimedia producer at PRI's The World, so in a way, I'm kind of defining this role at our radio show. I specifically focus on health and global development stories. I work very closely with my editor and reporters in the field to develop ideas for special series on our website, theworld.org. Last October, I produced a series on global cancer, and came up with concepts for standalone video stories, compelling informational graphics, audio slideshows, and more for the special landing page we created for the series. I commissioned freelance videographers to shoot videos in Peru and China, and talked to them about my vision for these pieces. I stayed in close contact with them about potential characters and specific shots I needed. I also researched and compiled extensive data about cancer, and worked with a graphic designer to create an insightful series of graphics for our website and social media platforms. I also guided our web developer on the design of the site.
When I'm not working on in-depth projects with lots of moving parts, I think up ideas for video stories or online content that can accompany pieces that air on our daily radio broadcast. The World has a series called the Global Hit, which profiles international musicians. Before I started, our website would usually run an audio clip of the radio piece along with a few photos and embedded YouTube clips of the musician. Now, whenever our Global Hit musicians visit Boston, I film and produce original videos with interview footage, behind-the-scenes shots, and concert footage. I recently shot and edited videos of Cuban & Sardinian jazz duo Omar Sosa and Paolo Fresu as well as South African band Freshlyground.
FSF: Your job descriptions have run the gamut from reporter to videographer to producer ... how have you evolved over time in your career, and was that your own choosing or more of a necessity as the industry changes around you?
SN: You've done your research! Yes, I started as a general assignment newspaper reporter in Denver, Colorado and later transitioned to a video journalist at NBC News. I made the switch after studying journalism and documentary film at UC Berkeley's J-school from 2006-2008. At that time, I chose to expand into the world of video. However, I feel my subsequent transition from video journalist to producer came about as the industry changed. There were more positions for journalists who could do it all: report, film, photograph, edit video and audio, coordinate web production, design web sites, code in HTML, work in WordPress, create graphics, etc, rather than pure video-only positions. After journalism grad school, I found most of my full-time positions involved doing a little of everything. During my time freelancing, I was able to pick and choose my own projects, mostly which were video-only stories, but I also pitched and reported for radio programs (including PRI's The World) and web-only publications (including GlobalPost).
FSF: One of the hardest aspects of becoming a multimedia journalist for many photographers is learning when to do what. Given that you are often writing a story, producing an audio piece, as well as potentially shooting stills and video, how do you decide when to put down the recorder and pick up the camera, or halt an interview and run over to a grab some b-roll?
SN: This is a great questions that even freelancers I've commissioned to work on multimedia stories often ask me. I usually say this: let the subject or situation dicate your next move.
For example, I traveled to Sendai, Japan after the devastating earthquake in 2011 to report stories for PRI's The World and GlobalPost. I focused one of my stories on an elderly man who had lost his home and lived with his family in an evacuation center. A quiet, soft-spoken man, he had assumed a leadership position in his evacuation center to ensure everyone had enough supplies and assistance. Although I was producing a radio story, I recorded a video interview with him in the evacuation center. When I reached what remained of his home, I realized it would be too intrusive to film him, and I took only a few still photos. He felt more comfortable around a still camera than the video camera. This is an example of a time I might not film if it's too sensitive a subject, and the video is unnecessary.
In most cases, I will decide ahead of time what the outcome of the story should be: an audio slideshow, a video, an audio-only piece, etc. It's important to know in advance what you want to get out of your reporting. In another example, I asked my freelance photo/video journalist in Peru to create a character narrative about one breast cancer survivor in Peru. I conceptualized a multimedia story driven by strong portraits and action photographs, rich audio, and a few select shots on video. I asked him to film all the interviews, but not worry about video in most cases when he was shooting photo. Since he could focus on the photography, he got incredibly strong photos of his subject as she boarded buses in the crowded city of Lima, joined a colorful fashion show with her friends, and attended a breast cancer club meeting. If he kept trying to shoot video all the time, those photos wouldn't have been as strong.
When filming, I'm usually able to gather pretty good audio, since I've got the audio recorder running at the same time. But, it's a difficult juggling act with stills and audio
FSF: What advice would you give current journalism students about how to succeed in the field?
SN: This is a tough one, since I'm still figuring out how to succeed! I think every professional journalist is trying to figure this out, since journalism is changing so rapidly and we all have to adapt quickly. The first thing I'd say is learn to adapt. Today, one style of multimedia storytelling may be big, and tomorrow it could be another. Web standards are changing all the time, and you have to push yourself to figure out new ways to create amazing content for the web.
Also, be open to taking a job, big or small. The small positions that don't seem that grand can be the best learning opportunities. Sometimes, it's helpful to develop a beat, say environmental or health reporting, or even environmental videos. I prefer working on any kind of story that comes my way, but it's nice to build a strong network with journalists who cover a specific topic.
Keep your eyes and ears for opportunities. You may find it on Twitter (that's how I found the posting for my current position at PRI's The World). Also, learn to market yourself. One of the best things I ever did was build my own website (with the help of a recent graduate from my J-school!)
FSF: The World recently released a preview of their upcoming year-long series Learning to Succeed. As the producer, how much communication do you have with the journalists in the field? Are you talking back and forth about shot lists and what to look for in their raw footage, or are you getting all of their content after all is said and done and putting it together yourself?
SN: I addressed some of these points in my answer to the first question, but I'll give you more detail here. In our year-long series about a math and science school in one of South Africa's poorest communities, I worked closely with our Cape Town, South Africa-based correspondent. We were in touch daily via e-mail and almost every few days via phone. Luckily, we have a great, very communicative editor who moderated frequent conference calls about this video. We came up with the idea of a preview that would almost be like a movie trailer, introducing our audience to the topic and some of the characters we'll report on over the course of the school year. (In South Africa the school year runs from January through December.)
As the producer of this video piece, "Learning to Succeed," I came up with a shot list and guided our reporter on how to shoot certain scenes. I gave him detailed instructions (i.e. hold the camera still, no pans or zooms, film the kids walking into the assembly hall from the ground, get close-up shots of kids faces, film doors of shacks in the township, film people walking in front of a shack, etc.) I also sent him examples of video stories, some of which included strong footage of economically-disadvantaged communities in the U.S.. I came up with the concept for the student interviews and thought it would be really interesting to have the kids talk directly into the camera as they answer a simple question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" This ended up becoming the closing montage of the video, and worked well!
I also had to make sure the video didn't overlap too much with the radio story, so we talked about what elements would go into the video vs. the radio piece. After I received all the raw footage and transcripts, I chose the best soundbites and footage, searched the BBC archives for music, and assembled a rough cut, which I then fine-tuned based on feedback from my editor and our correspondent in the field.
FSF: Are there any projects that stand out in your mind? ... It's the cat cafe isnt it?
SN: Yes, the cat cafe in Osaka is one of my all-time favorite videos! Seriously, it was a lot of fun to shoot, and I even got to pet some cats while on the job. I got this story as an assignment without pitching it, and I found the main interview subject within minutes of entering the cafe. She was a middle-aged Japanese woman who works in a metal factory all day, and just wants to pet cats to help her relax after work. Now that I have a full-time job with long hours, I know what she feels like!
Other fun projects: I got to follow around Rajasthani camel traders at one of India's biggest camel fairs on my birthday for a video story! In Okinawa, Japan, I went out to dinner and ran into a talented pair of musicians who happened to be brothers. I asked for a short interview, and they let me record a music session in their home! I also filmed an important story about the controversy surrounding a disputed U.S. military base in Okinawa, Japan for PBS NewsHour. For that story, I begged my way into a press conference with former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. The guards kept asking me what my news outlet was, and when I said PBS, they thought it was TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting), and they let me in!
For more on Sonia Narang, visit her website. You can also follow her on Twitter @sonianarang.
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