If you are a multimedia journalist, teacher or student, here are three recently released books I recommend adding to your summer reading list.
Videojournalism: Multimedia Storytelling by Kenneth Kobre
I recently reviewed half a dozen new multimedia journalism textbooks, and this one by renowned photojournalist and author Kenneth Kobre is my favorite. In addition to techniques for shooting still images and video, gathering audio, and writing scripts, it provides strategies for identifying, evaluating and structuring various kinds of stories. Unlike many text-heavy textbooks, this book is visual and uses stunning photos, graphics and illustrations. And unlike some textbooks that charge extra for online resources or require that you adopt the book for access, this one has an open website with dozens of multimedia examples and resources.
The Data Journalism Handbook by Liliana Bounegru, Lucy Chambers and Jonathan Gray
Data journalism is an emerging field of reporting focused on gathering, sorting, analyzing and presenting vast amounts of electronic information. This open-source book is a collaboration of 50 journalists and programmers and offers data journalism case studies from news organizations like The New York Times, Financial Times, Guardian, and Chicago Tribune. The print version ($24.99) is scheduled to come out in July 2012, but there is a free beta version online.
Inside the Story: A Masterclass in Digital Storytelling by the People Who Do It Best by Adam Westbrook
In this book, 20 successful digital storytellers like Brian Storm, Amy O’Leary, Bob Sacha, Andrew DeVigal and Richard Koci Hernandez share the secrets of their craft in 200 words entries. It isn’t a traditional “how-to” book; it is designed to inspire and challenge and all of the proceeds go to the microloan organization Kiva. The 45-page book, which was sold online for just a few weeks, is not currently available. But the project’s organizer and editor Adam Westbrook wrote in an email that he plans to re-release it again later this summer. See insidethestory.org for updates.