Did the BBC pioneer videojournalism?
No, says the senior executive who brought videojournalism into the BBC.
So how did this obscure company no one has ever heard of become so integral to a movement that would have huge ramifcations around the world?
And this isn't hyperbole as its former press officer, now an executive at Turner/ CNN, states how executives flocked to the station to see how it worked.
Channel One was not responsible for making you pick up a camera and shoot, but when it launched way back in 1994 every broadcast manager worth their salt came to have a look.
The former chief executive of ITN, the UK's biggest commercial news provider pays tribute to Channel One, calling them pioneers.
Here's the rub!
Channel One Videojournalism
STORIED Videojournalism, Past, Present and the Future from david dunkley gyimah on Vimeo.Channel One was a newspaper company broadcasting on cable. The irony is so rich, and if you'd like to sample yourself, an extended trailer is on Viewmagazine.tv.
Videojournalists likened one facet of their work to speed chess. You arrived on the scene and would swiftly have to assess the story. You had one hour to wrap the whole story up, because you had another two, sometimes three stories, to fill in.
If you're a photojournalist it is the equivalent of what one of the photography's greatest theorists refers to as the punctum.
The punctum in the picture is the punch, the thing that stands out. In videojournalism storyform, you were scanning for multiple punctums, so it was fundamentally crucial you
- Understood this ethereal concept of news
- Knew when and where you wanted to break it.
Storied will eventually be a series of shorts. The trailer features Michael Rosenblum, Brian Storm et al.
The second trailer version will feature prominent managers from Channel One TV. But see for yourself how videojournalism started in the UK, and how when it closed it took with it a number of key features, I have since unearthed.
My overaching PhD thesis that looks at storyform includes Channel One TV, a ground breaking videojournalism project in African in 1997, work in Egypt and qualitative evidence of where its going.
This is only a trailer, and a substantial section is also about establishing credibility, because there's some pretty jaw dropping things to come.
This film will have some value, I hope, if you're a student, professional or expert interested in corrections in media history, and want to have some idea of videojournalism's future.
The glimpse I give includes China where the net is a hologram in your living room. And there are many others.
See you on the other side.
