Cliff – I have to agree with you: Eugene TV news is pretty awful. They’re trying too hard to copy a big city news market. After doing solo video journalism for more than 2 years I really could image having a reporter, photographer and editor all working on my project. I think one-person bands will be the wave of the future regardless TV or newspapers — let’s just hope there starts to be a little more money in it! But like I said above, I think newspapers should beat out TV eventually. Down the line the Internet should be so ubiquitous and fast that TV will just come over our computers and stand on equal platform with newspaper sites. That is a little ways off though.

i think it just really depends on the market on how the tv and newspapers compare. i’m in a top 50 market so that makes it some pretty feirce competition.

I think your analysis in your last paragraph speaks volumes about just how bad the local TV news is here in Eugene. I quit watching it over four years ago, but do catch myself peering at it just to see what’s changed – the only change I have seen is that it has gotten worse from my POV (sorta like peering at a car wreck on the side of the road)

I cut my teeth at the ODE back in the mid-late 80′s and I look back on that time with fond memories. It was a great learning experience and that experience helped me get my first photo internship at the Springfield News.

Now I’m trying the freelance Solo VJ for the web gig and I don’t envy those who are still entrenched in shoulder mount multi-person news production crews – newspapers and their agile Solo VJ’s are going to show TV what its about with regards to accurate, timely and engaging video content.

Cliff Etzel – Solo Video Journalist
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