Five Tips for Covering Breaking News

With high quality film studios in every pocket, everyone is a potential journalist. At a concert, at a party, at a tragedy, at a polling site—at the first sign of action or strife, phones come out. Increasingly, that of-the-instant video has become part of the national news fabric.

Whether you actually are a professional journalist or you become one by happening upon news at, say, your polling place in a hotly contested midterm election, here are five tips to make your video news gathering more effective: 

First, Look with your Eyes

If something urgent is going on, definitely hit “record” fast.

But at the same time, look around with your eyes. They see much more than your screen does. Is the confrontation that prompted you to pull out your camera the most interesting thing going on?

The thing that caused you to start shooting may be more complicated than you thought. There may be others getting involved. Or the setting may provide context you are missing through the lens. While you’re shooting, be sure to look up at reality once in a while. It’s a safety thing too- you want to stay alert in a newsmaking situation.

It’s (Almost) Always About a Person

 Unless you’re shooting something inhuman (a meteor hitting the earth, for example) the most interesting thing you can shoot will always be another human being. Your "WHO." Start newsgathering with the person fighting, rescuing, speaking, winning, whatever. The one WHO is driving the story. Who made you to want to shoot this in the first place? 

Look for the Story

If you shoot a wide shot of a polling place that's being kept open after regular voting hours, you might see the building, a line, tired people talking, a dog, a few pedestrians. It’s all kind of vague. Lots of possible subjects, but (at least in that shot) no story. 

Good video is built like a sentence—It’s about someone (our WHO) who does something—often to something or someone else. As you may remember from third grade, this is just like sentence structure:  Subject/Verb/Object.

At a polling place that’s being kept open late, you might look (with your eyes) and then point your camera at a Lawyer (subject) challenging (verb) a poll watcher (object). Now you have a story.

In our unfocused wide shot above, there are probably many stories. A woman (subject) hands a water bottle (Verb phrase) to a thirsty voter (object). A Man (subject) smiles (verb) at an poll volunteer (object), Supporters on a nearby street (subjects) wave (verb) signs (objects), a Lawyer (subject) challenges (verb) a poll watcher (object). 

You can go for more focus and depth on the story you’re most drawn to, or get a great documentary picture of the night by getting small glimpses of many stories.

Zoom with your Feet

People instinctively don't want to get inolved with strangers. Our tendency with a camera is to stay far away from conflict and zoom way in. To see without being seen. But what's a perfectly normal instinct for most situations is wrong for journalism. 

Within the bounds of safety, a journalist wants to get as close to the action as possible. Instead of zooming your lens from far away, zoom with your feet: move your body closer and keep your lens wider. Three reasons to get as close as you can to the action: 

a)  You’ll get higher quality video if you don’t use the digital zoom on your phone. You can always “zoom in” by blowing up the picture in edit if you need to. 

b) There’s no such thing as a zoom mic. If you want to hear what people are saying, you have to stand close. 

c) It's hard to ask questions from across the room. If you pulled out your phone because of a fist fight, you may not want to ask a lot of questions or get real close. But if it's because a candidate just walked into the polling place to vote, why not do both?

Shoot it Widescreen

Most news outlets follow broadcast traditions on aspect ratio. Youtube, X, TV Networks – they all cover news in widescreen, like your TV or computer. (Learn why in lesson 2 of our video course.)

Widescreen coverage gives viewers more context than holding the phone vertically. You can see the setting better, and any action around the action you’re focused on. It also gives you more edit options later (including the option to create a vertical version for your social media).

In the heat of the moment, things move fast. Nobody shoots crisis video perfectly without years of training and a lot of luck under fire.

But the more of these principles you keep in mind, the more likely it is that luck will smile on your news coverage.