One-man show

In each and every story that we write, we look to see if there is a multimedia element that we can add. While it has long been a plus for writers to take their own photos when they submit a story, now it is becoming almost imperative for the writer to shoot some video or produce an audio interview as well.

Thanks to an incredible staff, including photographer Mark Hall and videographer Rich Johnston, we are able to put out some pretty slick productions. Sure, the headaches are still there and posting videos for news stories still means staying up late, but it makes it all worthwhile to get up the next morning and see that 4,000 watched our video. Unfortunately, as a freelance writer you probably can’t rely on a team.

Even if it’s just you visiting a farm or covering an event, you can still do some amazing things with a small capital outlay. Ken Weingartner of Harness Racing Communications is a great example of a one-man show. For only a few hundred dollars invested in equipment, he can shoot high-quality photos with his camera and shoot a short video interview with his flip camera that can be uploaded directly to Youtube. He also will write a story that can run in Hoof Beats or on ustrotting.com.

It may seem daunting to learn all of these new techniques, but one year ago I set out to be a one-man show. The learning curve was steep, but the weekly improvement was dramatic.

Right now, Hoof Beats is looking for some new voices for its pages. If you would like to write for harness racing’s premier magazine, please send me a note at tj.burkett@ustrotting.com. Just remember—we are looking to bring more of our content to the Web. So if you can already shoot photos and video, or if you have any questions about how to get started as a “one-man show,” please send me a note.

T.J. Burkett
Managing editor