The Net, Narrative and Norway. Eight is the magic number. Key note to Norway’s Investigative Journos

It was that twilight zone between a world without the web, and a world imagining the unimaginable possibilities.

Noway’s police chief looked aghast. His details were unknown. In the shadowy world of crime solving, he himself was a shadow. A name, that’s all. There the personal details stopped.

Within ten minutes, one of the more well know journalists attending Skup had cracked all the information needed to pop over to the chief’s house for a cup of tea.

The journalist’s methods? Nothing but sheer grit and the Net’s open source.

Frightening really was the gesture on the chief’s face.

Norway’s Journo’s think tank

Over the course of a week in a small town on the edge of “The End of the World” — a rustic natural beauty spot- many have gathered.

They are the top investigative journalists across the media: print, radio and TV. And here they swap ideas, look at new techniques, engage with fresh notions — and the internet today has come to play a huge role.

Replicated across many territories, the net has eaten into the market share of the newspapers’ hard copy. The print media has a strong web presence says my meet-and-greet, a fine journalist who now lectures for a living.

Three months earlier I received an effusive email from one of the organisers wanting to explore a new theme: Video Journalism and how it works. Staff from NHK — Norway’s public broadcaster — recommended me and Maria decided to take a gamble.

“Would you mind coming over to talk?”, she enquired.

“Would love to”, but finding a hole in my erratic schedule was proving difficult.

I flew out on the morning of my talk, having put back travelling the previous night because I was a panelist alongside UK figures talking turkey at a Net event.

“Ahh David good to see you”. Maria proved much warmer in person than she had on the phone.

But there was little time for socials. I had two sessions: one about method, which was part of a themed practical class across the week.

The second, in the main auditorium, billed to attract hundreds of journalists: “David Dunkley Gyimah presents the future of the web and the Outernet”, it screamed.

Good thing I couldn’t read the print beforehand. Definitely a recipe to turn and find a corner to hide.

I had three idea charts and a practice session on video journalism I was drawing from, linking myself non- linearly, a real life sentient hyper link.

One or two people left. Nay mind. Always happens, but despite the main of the class engaging, Maria was in fret mode: her gamble to invite me to speak was about to go pants.

“Er David, the problem is you’re talking… how shall I say.. about themes which we are just getting to grips with and you speak fast”.

Maria was being polite. But I understood what she meant.

I had tried to gauge the level of video journalism et al by speaking to a VJ intern, but obviously I’d missed the mark.

“Maria, I’m an actor”, I said making an analogy, “and you are the producer/director. What would you want me do?” “You went through a presentation with one of our students”, she replied, “and I’m told that’s brilliant. Why don’t you do that”.

We opened it. And over the course of an hour before the next major event, played around with words. Maria, I had every confidence with, bore the hallmarks of a tough but fair producer — the sort I have worked with at the BBC.

The key was to use her as the water mark. If she didn’t get it, it possibly meant a word here, a sentence there was needed to explain further. “It’s not that all the elements aren’t there but could you go here. Yes, that’s nice. Mmm. Ok, Ok, what about..”

In the space of a few hours Maria had the measure of me, and I had begun to understand the nuances of coded language: what worked and what didn’t by her expressions.

“…so suspend whatever you believe or know. You may not agree with it, but this is David’s insight into the future……Please welcome David Gyimah”. The arena was lit.

The applause was generous, and that’s all I remember. Truthfully I recall every minute, gauging the odd twitch to read the air.

There are no points for bravado or arrogance in this thing many people do: present on public stage. Speakers have an unwritten duty, not too dissimilar to the BBC’s decree: to inform, entertain and educate.

If all three are culled, then it’s a good day’s work. But we, I mean I, rely on the good spirit of my hosts, where to take myself and hopefully the audience.

One of the most engaging presentation I have seen to date was on TED talks with Al Gore. Masterful, funny and the sleight of hand to engage you when you never saw it coming.

The End of The World

The questions that followed were lively.
• Could video journalism offer television quality pictures?
• Will video journalism really take on television?
• Can newspapers do video journalism?

They kept coming from the host, Peter and the floor. My answers qualified, I hope, on each point was yes, yes, yes. Maria’s face was a picture. I was thoroughly exhausted.

That’s what they do. Perform on high energy, adrenalin, imparting facts, figures in the hope that a small pebble has been left in a sea of many ideas.

My many rewards from Maria included a trip to the most astounding natural beauty spot, where nature has carved master pieces ala Da Vinci. Simply breath taking.

And then the next day I was on a plane back to London. It’s as if it never happened. I did a similar two day trip to the US’ Online News Association once, but that gossip is for another day.

In mid flight my mind drifted: 8 mb… 8 mb. The magic number. Yes… Doh. I could have explained further. At 8mb with MPG4 encoding, we’ll be able to access live TV streams via the web. But I think the audience got it all the same.

Taken from my blog Sunday, April 01, 2007 letter from Norway

Response

Hi again David

I was just reading your thoughts from the weekend at SKUP. You don’t only use your camera as a pen. You know how to write well on the keyboard too. I really enjoyed your story — and your encounter with Maria:-)

I thought your presentation at SKUP was very good, and I hope you had a good time!

I am alone in a hotel room in Bergen in between two lectures. Not very funny to see the insides of hotel rooms, as I recall we talked about during dinner Friday evening…

Maybe we’ll meet when you come to Norway next time for the VJ-conference. Make sure Tord show you the “old city” in Fredrikstad, where the conference is.

Best regards
Stale

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Hello David

Just read your piece on Skup. Very nice — escpeially since Ståle and I helped Trond doing the reseach on police chief . Thanks for the pat on the back :-)

Cheers

Tord
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Thank you everyone for making my stay in Norway so warm. I’m back in Norway over a weekend in a couple of weeks looking at Vjism.

If you’d like to see the piece I wrote with the accompanying video presentation of the outernet here it is
http://podcast.wmin.ac.uk/weblog/schoolofjournalism/

David