Hello World,
For those of you who may be interested my name is Zack Cohen. As a sophomore journalism student at the University of Maryland I am currently taking Journalism 203, Multimedia reporting.Part of the class entails creating a blog...never acctually thought I would make one of these... on which I will post my various assignents given out by Megan Rossman of the Washington Post. Throughout the course, I will be recording video and audio in addition to various writing assignments that will help me dive into the world mulitmedia journalism.
For our first assignment, I was instructed to find an example of multimedia reporting that inspired me. After finding the piece, I wrote a brief critique concerning why I selected it which aspects I thoguht were good and bad.I was able to find a very interesting piece called "Rape of a Nation" by:Marcus Bleasdale.
Marcus Bleasdale’s utilization of still photography, video interviews, and live footage makes “Rape of a Nation” a powerful piece about the death toll and horrific sexual crimes that take place in the Congo. The black and white still photos of children carrying AK-47s, dead bodies, children participating in strenuous physical labor, and under nourished and ill treated women effectively portrays the gruesome situation in which the people of the Congo are forced to live.
Several photos use different lighting techniques, making each piece unique and allowing it to tell its own story. I thought that the photo of the older man burying his son’s coffin presented epitomized the contrast of light and dark to portray a message of sorrow and pain.
I thought that the live footage of the vehicles being attacked by gorilla soldiers was impactful as it showed the chaos that takes place in this particular setting but it did not resonate with me as a viewer as much as the still photos of child soldiers or dead bodies.
The interview provided the piece with the perspective of someone who has studied the conflict in the Congo; however, it as the piece drew on, seemed some what repetitive and took away from the over all message of the piece. I felt that the interview with the woman who had been sexually abused was much more powerful as it provided a first hand account of a crime that continues to go unpunished. Here somber tone and hunched posture allowed the viewer to glimpse the pain and embarrassment that torments her and thousands of other women every day.
http://mediastorm.com/0022.htm
