Casey Frechette is a visiting assistant professor in the journalism and media studies department at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, a Web strategist and consultant with USFSP's Nelson Poynter Memorial Library, and an adjunct with The Poynter Institute. Casey teaches and writes about digital media and researches the role of technology in learning. Before joining the USF St. Petersburg, Casey was an interactive learning producer with Poynter’s News University, a leading online journalism and media training program. At Poynter, Casey worked with faculty and industry leaders to design and build custom training experiences for a community of 200,000 (and growing) online learners. Casey has over a decade of Web development and e-learning experience, specializing in PHP, MySQL and jQuery. He produced multimedia lessons for Navajo students at the University of New Mexico’s Technology and Education Center and DJed at KSEL in Portales, New Mexico. Casey has a master’s in media arts and computer science and a doctorate in organizational learning and instructional technology. His dissertation looks at the effects of animated characters in Web-based learning environments, and his research has appeared in peer-reviewed publications. His current research projects involve investigations into how online wisdom communities form and develop.
Facebook’s recent unveiling of Home, a software suite for Android phones (and soon tablets), offered more evidence that apps rule the mobile world.
Just a few years ago, usage of apps lagged Web browsing within that world. But … Read more
Fifty milliseconds. That’s how quickly visitors can form strong, long-lasting impressions about your news or information website. But they aren’t sizing up the quality of your content or the sophistication of your code. They’re making nearly instantaneous, mostly subconscious judgments … Read more
Interviews are a cornerstone of video storytelling because they provide emotion, content and structure, especially in documentary-style stories with little or no narration. Good interviews make for good videos.
Fortunately, most of what you’ve learned about interviewing applies to video. … Read more
Digital camcorders, DSLRs and digital audio recorders have revolutionized video production. It’s now possible to get higher quality footage for less money than ever before. But, advances in hardware don’t tell the whole story. Equally important have been improvements in video … Read more
Among the technology-based skills worth journalists’ consideration, wireframing merits a closer look.
Wireframes are rudimentary visual depictions of ideas. They can be created with specialized software or nothing more than a pen and the back of a napkin. Web pages, … Read more
Good video stories need strong individual shots. Great video stories present those shots in a sequence that complements the parts and creates a much greater whole.
Shooting and editing effective sequences are essential video storytelling skills. Shot sequences can enhance … Read more
Editor’s note: This How To assumes a basic understanding of HTML.
Along with HTML and JavaScript, CSS forms the foundation of the open Web. These three technologies power just about every website, and a basic understanding of each can go … Read more
Sound can make or break a multimedia production, whether it’s an audio slideshow, a documentary video or an interactive narrative. Unfortunately, audio often gets short shrift. Visuals and interactive elements tend to command our attention, and just getting the story … Read more
If your news site isn’t using APIs, you’re missing out.
APIs represent one of the fastest and most effective ways to enhance the quality of your site. They let you build on the work of others and provide your readers … Read more
Video stories, whether features, spot news or documentaries, tend to rely on the same set of elements to inform and engage viewers. These building blocks separate video from other storytelling formats, and the more you’re aware of them, the more … Read more