I’m back in work after a stint of what’s known around here as freshers flu. (all the new students bring more than just eager minds to class)

I know I have a lot of things that I need to post to make good on stuff I started before a bit of a work induced blogging hiatus. But I had to pass comment about this.

According to Hold The Front page the NCTJ (UK based newspaper training body) have created a video guide for all journalists struggling with video.

The eight-minute film has been produced by Lloyd Bracey, chief examiner for online and video journalism at the National Council for the Training of Journalists.

It’s essentially a 101 on how to shoot a neat interview and a sequence with some other stuff thrown in. Go and have a watch, it’s pretty good.

Good as it is though, I have a problem.

The overriding claim is that this is aimed at reporters making the shift to video – newspaper people and in that respect I don’t think it succeeds for a couple of reasons

• It’s over 8 minutes long – Why isn’t it broken in to easy bite sized chunks? One for each section
• It has no supporting material – Where is the ‘multimedia’ why not text and images and video on the same page.

From what I’ve seen, right across the board of all newspapers, people have moved well beyond this. By looking at what other newspaper journos are doing you get a better feel for what is required.

The skills and advice the video offers are sound and very well presented. It would make a great basic tutorial for starters. But it isn’t the only one out there. To stand out and really offer that advice to newspaper reporters it needs more application.

The truth is it’s a way behind where the industry is at and I would have expected the NCTJ to be reflecting a better application of the medium in their practice based on what their industry is already doing.