Meeting obstacles but reading opportunities

I spent the Independence Day weekend with my cousin Charles at his house in Dallas, Texas. Besides adding another city to my growing list of places that I have been to during my fellowship, the weekend helped me reunite with a man I last saw in 1996 when he left Kenya. I was then doing my first year of my undergraduate degree course. We shared a lot with his family, including his son, Nyang’au, who is nearly the age of my own, Neville.

Upon my return to Kansas City, another trip was waiting. The Keystone Multimedia Workshop, organized by the Pennsylvania Newspapers Association, was running between July 10 and 13 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

But I had to, first, fly to Pittsburgh City where colleague Deepak Adhikari (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) would be my overnight host. My flight landed at the local airport at 10.15 p.m. and I gladly found Deepak waiting at the passenger pick-up area, with a Nepalese friend Kissor. They drove me to Deepak’s nice apartment in downtown. To my pleasant surprise, he had prepared a fantastic dinner – the Nepalese way. I enjoyed the food, which Deepak joked was a nice treat on my birthday.

The following day, July 10, we were driven to Gettyburg (well-known as the grounds for the American Civil War) by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette multimedia journalist Melissa Tkach.

Before the workshop, I had spent a day shuttling The Star’s multimedia reporter Dave Helling to a function at Independence, Missouri, where Democrat presidential nominee Barack Obama spoke. I observed how he shot the video and how it is later posted in the paper’s website.

But at the workshop, there were many things to learn. In fact, had I attended the such a workshop two months earlier, I would have done two things differently: One, I would have bought a Macintosh lab top that, I realized, works well with computer software that supports video and slide shows. Secondly, I would have bought a recorder that picks better sound, and one that easily downloads audio into the computer.

Flaws of my gadgets were heavily exposed at the training, where I had to rely on computer and recorder of another participant, Cosmas Akuta, a Nigerian with American citizenship. Trainers were, however, good enough to teach me how to download some of the usable programs that are used to edit audio. But the downloads would only be valid for a month, meaning I must decide whether to pay about $900 to purchase new ones.

At the training, I learned how to shoot and edit pictures - both for video and still. I learned the best software that would be used to edit and post the pictures and slide shows.

As well, I was given tips on good microphones for sound recording, besides how to get good quality sound from interviewees.

But the workshop was not without flaws of its own. Deepak and I were the only ones to have come from the outside of Pennsylvania. Other participants were from the state, meaning they knew well their way around. In fact, most of them came with their own cars. Yet, the organizers did not make arrangements that would ensure we had a means to travel to downtown where we were to shoot our assignments. But Akuta helped us move around.

Although participants had different levels of knowledge on multi-media aspects, trainers failed to factor that into their workshop. Since I was a neophyte in shooting video and preparing slides, I felt I needed more personal attention than I got.

Although I met obstacles in the workshop, I saw even more opportunities on how traditional print journalists can use new media to enhance newspaper web sales.

Lessons on how to write editorials

Was my one-month experience at the Op-Ed section worth the while? Undoubtedly yes. I learnt that editorial ideas are subjected to great scrutiny before they are adopted as usable topics in the section. Sometimes, the discussions get too heated that one would fear they may degenerate into personal confrontation. But eventually, a consensus is reached – on what arguments should go into an editorial before it is decided who the writer would be.

After returning from the midterm seminar at The Poynter Institute, two of my ideas were subjected to such scrutiny and passed the test. They features a Kenya-U.S. "Open Skies" agreement and the trouble in Zimbabwe.

Accepting the idea then opens the way to writing the editorial. Usually, the writer has a word limit of about 300 words to make a point that would have otherwise been narrated in more than 1,500 words. This, my teacher Barbara Shelly told me, means that the writer must choose words carefully and be focused on what is important to push an argument forward in an editorial.

The idea, at The Star, is to put the opinion of an argument right at the top. A few more sentences would help support the opinion before shedding some background on the topic.
I found this a suitable way of writing editorials. It helps one to be more forceful in influencing an opinion about the theme of an editorial.

But there was soccer too in the last week of June. The Euro Cup was coming to a close with a showpiece match between Spain and Germany, which I had to preview. It had become fun to write about soccer since I delved into the section. I have made many friends in and outside of the newsroom, especially at the Overland Park where I play soccer every Monday and Tuesday. Last week, a reader sent me a good idea to write about upon reading one of my stories. I now feel pretty comfortable writing on sports, with an international view, a thing I want to carry home when I return next month.

Other than writing, I held a talk before more than 50 members of the International Relations Council (IRC), Kansas City on June 18. The Star’s Director of Strategic Development Randy Smith, and Ruth Rodriguez, professor of journalism at Pomeu Fabra University in Madrid, Spain, spoke about foreign policy and the 2008 U.S. elections.

The IRC is the region's leading organization for world affairs programming. Since its founding in 1954, IRC has hosted many world leaders, including cabinet level officials, ambassadors and leaders from business, media, politics, government and education.

Its members, both individuals and organizations, participate in numerous events throughout the year. The organization also provides significant resources for teachers and schools.
At the June 18 function, we fielded many questions from participants ranging from America’s image abroad, work for journalists in our home countries and how this year’s U.S. elections were being perceived abroad.