New rule: No writer should ever work without a video camera.
If you can shoot some simple footage to accompany your written stories, your value for a publication literally doubles. My buddy Adam B. Ellick demonstrated that concept this weekend, writing this NY Times story about a dying generation of dumpling makers in the East Village. It's a great print story that combines vivid details with a sad meditation on time and gentrification.
Shooting this video feature about the same story gave Adam a chance to actually go back, get more quotes, and see his subjects in a whole new perspective. I can't say it any better than Mark Bowden (author of the journalism classic, Black Hawk Down) in this essay:
"I advise young journalists today to learn how to use a digital video camera, and to get used to working in multimedia. Nearly every story I write today for the Atlantic, and every book I undertake, I do in conjunction with a documentary filmmaker. This results in a documentary version of the story, which can be marketed to TV but also compiles the audio and video needed to produce a Web presentation."
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