Video training for journos a success

Your local newspaper, delivered to your house once a week for free is actually one of the many local publications which fall under the Caxton and CTP Publishers and Printers company all across South Africa.

On the West Rand, the four newspapers, Krugersdorp News, Roodepoort Record, Roodepoort Northsider and Randfontein Herald are all produced in the same office with each one’s content creators working side by side to deliver quality products and objective, accurate information.

Being well into the modern day, the printed newspaper is no longer just limited to words and photos on a page. Today, we’re able to bring our stories to life through videos and other interactive media, right on the page. It’s as simple as taking out your phone and scanning PixzAR enabled pages to see so much more of a normal story than you’re used to.

To this end, it’s more important than ever for local newspaper journalists to create videos. But, this takes a lot of technical know-how that most people have never picked up during an average life.

Luckily, Caxton West Rand journalists know all about creating videos, but there’s always more to learn and improve upon.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, 9 and 10 March, three journalists from the various papers took time out of their busy daily schedules to attend a video training session held by Caxton for all its nationwide branches.

Thabisile Mgwali, Jarryd Westerdale and Jaco Human were introduced to some of the latest filming and editing techniques, having been required to create an in-house video on the day and implement what they’ve learned.

These skills will now be translated into their daily activities as journalists with the idea of pushing the newspapers’ media content to the next level.

Keep an eye on your printed and online newspapers to see how article and advertising related videos have improved.