Hechinger Institute's First Video Blogger - November '07 Seminar

Hechinger Institute's First Video Blogger - November '07 Seminar

Hechinger Institute's

First Video Blogger Brings

Higher Education Seminar

to Life - Almost Instantly

When reporter Diana Costello showed up at the Hechinger Institute's seminar for higher education reporters in November, she packed a bit of powerful technology along with her reporter's notebook: a small, hand-held video camera.

Costello covers education trends for the Journal News in White Plains, N.Y., and began posting videos this fall to accompany her blog, "The Hall Monitor.''

She's the first reporter at the Gannett-owned paper to post a video blog, an idea that is catching on quickly in her newsroom.

"It's an easier format, and it's a lot quicker than sitting down and writing everything out,'' says Costello, a New York University graduate who has worked at the Journal News for three years.
Costello's video blog brought immediacy to the Hechinger Institute's seminar, held at Teachers College, Columbia University. While seminar speakers are used to being called and quoted by reporters after their presentations, the November speakers appeared almost instantly on the Journal News Web site, and can be viewed at http://hallmonitor.lohudblogs.com/?s=hechinger
"I think the video allows people to be more involved in the conversation or feel more involved because they are literally seeing things as reporters see them,'' Costello says. Costello plans to bring her video camera into classrooms and school board meetings and instantly post some of her footage.

"I would encourage all education reporters to do this because there is nothing more lively and exciting than a classroom -- so to be able to capture that and show it is really powerful,'' she says.

The video camera has also helped Costello improve her more traditional news and feature stories. "Watching the videos helps make your writing more colorful,'' Costello says. "You are really looking out for what is going on around you, more than if you just had your notepad out. It adds more color and life.''