There’s a revolution going on in the way America’s newspaper news-rooms do visual storytelling.

For most of my time in the business the heart of our visuals has been still photography. In the past two decades, the introduction of increasingly sophisticated print and online graphics has enhanced and altered how we tell stories.

Now it’s online video that is changing everything.

We’re interviewing finalists for a photography opening on our staff. We had more than 200 applications and have boiled the list down to half a dozen.

A key element is how versatile they are. They must be world-class still photographers, skilled at composing dramatic and telling images on the fly and processing them with the latest software.

But we’re also seeking photographers who can record sound and build captivating online photo galleries that have compelling narration and “live” sound.

And they need to be able to shoot and edit video.

We interviewed a photographer Friday who for several years has gone on every assignment with a professional-grade Canon digital single-lens-reflex camera strung from one shoulder and a lightweight Sony high-definition video camera dangling from the other. He shoots with both on every assignment.

We asked him what he tells people when they ask what his job is.

“If they don’t know our business I just tell them I’m a photographer,” he said.

His own job description: multimedia news producer.

Just one more sign of how the news business is changing.

COVERING THE MALL SHOOTING TRIAL

You might have seen a story in the paper last week about a judge issuing rules for media coverage in the upcoming trial of Dominick S. Maldonado, charged in the Tacoma Mall shooting.

Superior Court Judge Linda Lee is trying to balance the defendant’s fair-trial rights with free-press rights to witness and cover the trial.

I’m sure we’ll be able to do most of our tasks without difficulty during the trial, but the judge made at least two rulings that struck us as being at odds with how most major trials are typically covered in Pierce County.

She insisted that the still photographer covering the trial shoot photos only from a camera mounted on a tripod. Our suggestion was to require the photographer to shoot from a fixed position, but not to use a tripod.

TV coverage requires a tripod, so adding another one seems to involve a lot more space and obstruction in the courtroom. Further, a tripod requires a still photographer to constantly adjust the camera’s angle and shooting position. Most judges require a photographer to occupy a fixed position in a back corner of the courtroom, and quietly sit or occasionally stand to shoot a photo.

The other rule was that no sound be made when a photograph is taken. Newspapers all over the nation shoot major trials, as we have repeatedly done in Pierce and King counties, without distracting jurors or participants. We use sound-dampening covers to muffle the shutter “click.” We’ve even demonstrated the covers to Judge Lee. But we’re not aware of any system that is completely silent.

Neither the prosecutors nor the defense attorney objected to our proposed remedies to these issues, so we remain curious about the judge’s reasoning on those two points.

TNT PHONE SOLICITATION

Several subscribers have asked about the legitimacy of a telephone solicitation being done in the name of The News Tribune.

Yes, it’s legitimate.

The callers are asking regular subscribers with paid-in-advance subscriptions if they’re willing to donate to our effort to provide literacy materials and newspapers to area classrooms as a teaching device.

The callers represent a St. Paul firm that has been successful doing similar work for sister newspapers owned by The McClatchy Co.

They do not ask for credit card information, but they ask whether money can be credited from a reader’s subscription account to the newspapers-in-the-classroom program. Those who donate should also receive a thank-you letter from The News Tribune, letting them know the status of their paid-subscription account and how the money will be used.

If you have any questions about the program, or would like to donate, you can call Jim Henderson, our newspapers-in-the-classroom coordinator, at 253-597-8791 or e-mail him at jim.henderson@thenews tribune.com.

Dave Zeeck: 253-597-8434

david.zeeck@thenewstribune.com

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