WKRN: Inside VeeJay Training

Via the ever intriguing Nashville Is Talking, word of WKRN's continued experiment with the Rosenblum Principle. As reported here previously, the Nashville ABC affiliate is overhauling their approach to newsgathering, decimating the classic news crew structure in favor of a solo-journalist model. Having already purchased 30 three pound Sony cameras and 16 Dell laptop editors, WKRN staffers are now learning to use them. They're currently undergoing a rigorous eight week training course - one that will transform 13 traditional news crews into 30 video journalists.

Two of those staffers are providing a fascinating (if not vague) glimpse into the training. Todd Dunn is a traditional photojournalist at KRN, learning what he calls a whole new way to gather news. From his blog:

"For those of you who are an NPPA photographer and have been to the workshop in Norman, Oklahoma, it is easy to understand because you have basically been through the training. The ideas and principles of telling a good story were drilled into our head and we were even sent out to shoot and edit a story with a public critique session to follow."

Neil Orne is a morning anchor at WKRN. His blog is a bit more forthcoming:

"Our photojournalists, George and Todd, were most worried about how to write the story, the two reporters, Mike and myself, worried about how to make the pictures and editing match up with the story. We were all working at a very familiar task in a very unfamiliar way. I can best describe our new method of developing a story as a 180 degree change from the traditional model. From the way you immerse yourself in the subject to the process of assembling the pieces, everything has changed."

To those outside the cloistered halls of TV News, this may all seem like so much inside baseball. But the changes proposed by Michael Rosenblum and embraced by KRON, WKRN threaten to forever alter the way we gather news and change the way the local broadcast looks in your living room. What could be more sacred than that?