Buy your copy now and pay only $5 for shipping!* 

(Use code C9BRGG when checking out.  Applies only to orders in the US/Canada.) 

Al Tompkins reminds students about a disarmingly simple truth about broadcast journalism: people remember what they feel. If you aim for the heart with the copy you write and the sound and video you capture, you will never fail to grab your viewers and compel them to keep watching. With humor, honesty and directness, Tompkins bottles his years of experience and insight in a new second edition that offers students the fundamentals they need to master, with the practical know-how they can immediately put to use. Aim for the Heart is as close as you can get to having Tompkins’s training sessions at the ready, from which students:

• learn to listen when interviewing;

• write an inviting lead;

• get a memorable soundbite;

• see how to light, crop, frame and edit compelling video;

• learn the art of being a one man band, and

• translate their broadcast story into an interactive online story.

 

Check out the accompanying Poynter News Univeristy Online Learning Module:

http://www.newsu.org/courses/producing-video-TV-Web

Chapter One: Aim for the Heart
Finding Focus: Aim for the Heart of the Story
Use Soundbites That Connect to the Viewer's Heart
Sounds That 'Take You There': Get Close to the Action

Chapter Two: The Shape of the Story
Stories Need Surprises: Give Viewers Gold Coin Moments
Story Frames: Structure and Restructure
Sentences Have Shapes, Too: Power at the End

Chapter Three: Find Memorable Characters
Put a Face on the Story: You Remember What You Feel
Little Pictures, Big Stories: Focus on People, Not Events
How Many Characters Do You Need? It Depends

Chapter Four: Write Inviting Leads
First Impressions: Get Them Hooked
Some Do's and Don'ts for Leads: Don't Stall; Get on with It
Kill the Cliches: And Especially the Cliches of Thought

Chapter Five: Verbs and Adjectives
The Thing about 'ing': A Passive, Verbless Style
'To Be' or Not 'To Be': Verbs Drive Sentences
Avoid 'Fanstastic, Unbelievable, Gut-wrenching' Subjecive Adjectives

Chapter Six: The Art of the Interview
Learning to Listen: Using Your Ears More Than Your Mouth
Ask Better Questions
Interviewing Reluctant Sources: Explain the Rationale
Interviewing Juveniles and Other Vulnerable People
A Few Interviewing Don'ts

Chapter Seven: Why Pictures are So Powerful
A Little Bit of Visual Theory
The Power of the Picture

Chapter Eight: The Vital Role of Lighting
Lighting Sets an Editorial Tone

Chapter Nine: Video and Visual Techniques
Let's Get Visual: Capturing Compelling Video
Principles and Techniques for Photographic Objectivity
HD Video: Changing Ways to Frame and Edit Stories

Chapter Ten: Caution, This May Get Graphic: Thinking Visually
Think 'Shapes': A Checklist for Effective Graphics
Get It Right: Graphics Are Precision Work

Chapter Eleven: The Sound of the Story
Capturing Powerful Sound with the Right Tools
Ethical Concerns with Adding Music and Sound Effects
Do Not Rearrange Audio or Soundbites

Chapter Twelve: Working as a Backpack, VJ and One-Man Band Journalist
The Backpack Journalist's Freedom and Challenges
A Day in the Life of a BPJ

Chapter Thirteen: Tell the Story Online
Rules for Online Storytelling
Reporting and Writing for Online
Online Skills You Need to Get Hired or Keep Your Job
Ethics and Social Networks

Chapter Fourteen: Ethics and Broadcast Journalists: Seek Truth and Report as Fully as Possible
Guiding Principle 1: Seek Truth and Report it as Fully as Possible
Who Said That: Evaluating Sources for Your Stories
Be Honest with Viewers About Your Reporting and Your Mistakes
Attack Dogs, Watchdogs, and Guide Dogs: A Journalist's Commitment to Seeking Truth
File Tape: Truthful Reporting or Lazy Journalism?

Chapter Fifteen: Ethics and Broadcast Journalists: Act Independently
Avoid Conflicts of Interest

Chapter Sixteen: Ethics and Broadcast Journalists: Minimize Harm
Rights to Privacy for Private People and Public Officials
Using Graphic or Violent Images and Language
Identifying Suspects, Covering "Off-Limits" Stories and Other Tough Ethics Calls
Questions Before You 'Go Live'

Chapter Seventeen: Let's Get Critical
Al Gets Duped: Learning Skepticism
Al Gets Burned Again: Learning Curiosity
Questioning Conventional Wisdom: A Look at Why Students Kill
The Story Imbedded Between the Lines of Government Documents
Putting Critical Thinking into Journalistic Action

Chapter Eighteen: The Power of Enterprise Reporting
Enterprise from the Start: Morning Meetings
How to Generate Enterprise Stories
Look for the Story Behind the Story

Chapter Nineteen: Surviving and Thriving in Today's Newsroom
How to Succeed
Continual Learning
Surviving Layoffs, Cutbacks, and Re-assignment
Stressed and Overworked
Time Management
Avoid Office Gossip and Politics
Leaders in the Newsroom
The Meaning of Life

An indispensable guide to our craft – from an indispensable guy in our craft.

- Brian Williams, Anchor and Managing Editor, NBC News

Aim for the Heart offers outstanding lessons for students at all levels. Tompkins' approach is smart and engaging, bringing multimedia stories into focus through effective and ethical practices. His emphasis on improving technique in writing, shot composition and the marriage of the two moves students forward.

- Kathleen Bartzen Culver, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Aim for the Heart is the book I wish I could have read 20 years sooner. Al Tompkins reveals the secrets of compelling visual stories. As an award-winning broadcast journalist, Al taught himself the ‘magic’ years ago. His willingness to share and teach is his gift to the rest of us.

- Boyd Huppert, Reporter, KARE-11

In the midst of a changing industry, Aim for the Heart is more important than ever. It reminds journalists, that no matter what the platform, the story is still key. Writing matters. Every manager should have this in their library; it’s a great way to inspire newsrooms.

- Carolyn Mungo, Assistant News Director, KRIV-TV, Houston, Texas

Al Tompkins’ Aim for the Heart is even better the second time around. For those of us in journalism our world is quickly changing beneath our feet, and Aim for the Heart will give you something solid to stand on, with insights on how to be a better storyteller and how to make use of the newest technology.

- Byron Pitts, Correspondent, CBS 60-Minutes

Anyone who has even attended one of Al Tompkins' workshops knows that he brings amazing insight, energy and passion into the classroom. What's even more amazing is how he manages to convey that energy and passion in print. Aim for the Heart inspires ordinary journalists to do extraordinary work.

- Lisa Taylor, Ryerson University

Al Tompkins is one of America's best-known and most-requested journalism trainers. Tompkins has taught professional journalists at conferences, conventions, seminars and newsrooms in 46 states and five countries. Tompkins is the Broadcast and Online Group Leader for The Poynter Institute and has been awarded most of broadcast journalism's top honors, including The National Emmy, The Peabody, two Robert F. Kennedy Awards, and The American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel for legal reporting.

This book is now available on CourseSmart! Click the link for more information.