(Person) Percentage - Sabanci University Research Database

The Asian Media & Mass Communication Conference 2010 Osaka, Japan
were young at 21 and 22. They also had worked under deadline pressure to produce a
wide variety of features and breaking news. They also came from very different
backgrounds. One is from Germany and the other is Iranian American. Diversity, I
thought, was key in telling a story about people from a different country and culture.
To meet the goal of reporting an in-depth project, I asked the students at the beginning of
the summer to read books, watch movies and survey as many articles as time allowed.
Our 10-day trip was scheduled late in the summer, so I thought we would have ample
time to grasp a basic understanding of the relationship between dioxin and deformities in
Vietnam.
To meet the goal of creating a multimedia project, I asked each student to acquire skills
necessary to produce a student-quality multimedia project. Both students expressed
excitement about using video cameras. One had some basic experience with Final Cut;
the other had experience with iMovie. I asked both students to use Final Cut Express, an
application we were able to get for free from the journalism department.
Being a novice myself, I began taking classes in basic photo and video production and
screenwriting. I also asked a number of leading multimedia and video instructors to hold
informal workshops with the students.
I was able to set up many workshops, introduce new applications and get decent
equipment. I was able to supply each student with a Canon FS200 video camera and a
Flip-style camera. For one student, I helped her to buy a new Mac. I bought a Canon
Rebel Xti from a former journalism student, which I intended to use at times when the
local photographer was not available.
To distribute the story, I secured a deal with the San Francisco Chronicle and SF Gate to
run a blog from Vietnam, and then publish the best student work after we got back from
Vietnam. The blog was titled: Next Generation iview: Stories from Vietnam. The intent
was to publish blog entries before and during our time in Vietnam.
The trip to Vietnam was indeed amazing and inspirational. But we did not capture and
publish as much video and photography as I expected. We also were not able to establish
the link between Agent Orange and many of the disabilities among the people we
interviewed in Vietnam. Part of the reason, I believe, is that we were overwhelmed by the
stark poverty and challenges many people face in Vietnam. Perhaps Vietnam is a project
you must do in trips. Having said that, I have to applaud the students for working
tirelessly to make sense of what they had seen. I am proud of their effort and excitement
about Vietnam.
So, my belief is that the challenges I faced as an educator and an editor stems not from
the lack of effort by students, but by the failure to properly research the issues and
prepare for multimedia work. I think that the students and I would have been more
successful had they used social media to acquire many contacts before going to Vietnam.
I also think that they should have used the video equipment much more before going.
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