NewsVideo Workshop
Faculty
- Brett Akagi
- Darrell Barton
- Mark Carlson
- Bob Dotson
- Darren Durlach
- Charles Hadlock
- Kevin Hartfield
- Stan Heist
- Steve Hooker
- John Hyjek
- Julie Jones
- John Larson
- Sharon Levy Freed
- Joe Mahoney
- Josh Maranhas
- Craig Moore
- Scott Rensberger
- Les Rose
- Mike Schuh
- Tim Underhill
- Adam Vance
- Greg Vandegrift
- Dave Wertheimer
Mark Carlson
My name is Mark Carlson, and I am a video journalist based in Chicago for the Associated Press. That title means I am a videographer, reporter, writer, video editor, producer, assignment editor, travel agent, and accountant for the AP. Video journalists have different responsibilities at different news organizations, but the purpose of the job is the same everywhere, and it is for one person to do the work of 2 or 3 different people.
I began my career as a radio/television news broadcasting student at Southern Illinois University/Carbondale and worked there for WSIU-TV, a PBS affiliate, for four years. In my sophomore year I also was hired at the local ABC affiliate WSIL-TV as a part-time news/sports photographer and worked my way up to a one-man-band TV reporter. I then moved on to WBIR, the NBC affiliate in Knoxville, TN, as a news/sports photographer. My next job was as a news photographer with the Fox affiliate WITI-TV in Milwaukee, WI. After working in local TV news for nearly 10 years, it became clear to me that I required a more challenging career. I began exploring jobs with broader news opportunities, and that’s when I accepted the position of video journalist for the Associated Press.
Since December 2005 when I began working as a video journalist, I have covered the Beijing Olympics, Super Bowls, World Series, Kentucky Derby, Final Four, Detroit Auto Shows, California wildfires, tropical storms, tornados, hurricanes, space shuttle launch, President Gerald Ford’s funeral and the 2008 presidential election campaign in 18 states. Whenever I go out into the field on an assignment, I am up against network TV crews with endless staff and resources. But that is not intimidating because I perform all of their jobs faster, cheaper and more efficiently.
Everyone has limits on what they can and cannot do. The key to success is maximizing what you can do within those limits. Journalism is a business of competition. How does one person succeed when the competition is a crew of multiple people doing the same thing? Well, you have to figure out ways to force the competition to compete against your strengths.
The most rewarding experiences of my life have happened as a result of my occupation as a journalist. I have found life to be a lot easier to understand when I listen to other people tell their stories. I can’t count how many times I’ve had someone lead me on a guided tour of their home after it has been destroyed by a natural disaster. Each time I walk through the ruins, I realize that I’m not just telling a story, but sharing someone’s life with the world. It is a most awesome responsibility to possess the trust of a complete stranger.