Slug & Lede

Having just finished watching the video on EPA coal emission standards in Mesquite, NV, I’m impressed with a handful of things. I liked that the video wasn’t one long piece, but that still photos were used with voice overs, graphs were displayed, the logo of a particular government body was shown prominently but briefly, and that people from a wide range of professions were shown and that the video was collected from multiple locations. I think what was particularly effective was the still photograph of many people, all with their hands on their foreheads, as if defeated or simply disillusioned that their efforts had not yielded more results. The aforementioned picture makes me think of the snapshot of Muhammad Ali, victoriously standing above Sonny Liston. It wasn’t a planned pose, nor a pose at all; a photographer snapped a shot of Ali in motion on his way back to his corner, yet that simple picture captured Ali’s spirit and that of the movement he represented perfectly. Similarly, the photo depicting the Mesquite residents reacting to some bit of bad news speaks many words about their efforts and mood that a video of the same scene would perhaps fail to do.

This form of journalism is what I want to do post-graduation, so I paid closer attention than if I were a casual viewer. It also didn’t hurt that Nick Bergus linked a blog that is written by one of the higher ups at the Las Vegas Sun, so i wanted to see if they truly WERE on the cutting edge of journalism as the writer, Rob Curley, makes it seem. I really liked what they were doing with regards to what i mentioned above. Perhaps i wouldn’t have had such a long montage of people involved with the story (residents, various experts, etc.) in the middle of the story - the 1:50 mark to the 3:36 mark - as it seemed a bit redundant. The people of Mesquite and the surrounding areas don’t want a coal plant because it’s unhealthy and spreads pollution. It shouldn’t take nearly 2 minutes to explain that. Otherwise, I thought it was very well put together and quite frankly, I’m excited that the opportunities to bring a story to life as the Las Vegas Sun has exist, and that I will one day participate in such a form of journalism.