A Day at MinnPost with Taylor Canas
Part of being a bridger is respectfully expressing values and worldviews, while honoring the right of others to do the same (even when there's disagreement). The views and opinions expressed in this blog post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position, policies, or perspectives of Civic Bridgers. This content is intended to encourage thoughtful discussion and does not represent a formal statement on behalf of the organization.
The day to day work at a non-profit is almost never the same. The day to day work in a newsroom is also rarely the same. So, couple those two together (and maybe throw in a videographer position that has existed for less than a year) and you have day-to-day work that is absolutely never the same. That being said, my aim is to avoid this post turning into a list of every hyper-specific activity I’ve done during my service with MinnPost, so I’ll do my best to focus on common trends and generalities of my ever-changing work.
My weeks are populated with filming days, video editing days, or combination days (where I both film and edit). Most weeks, I have a somewhat equal split of filming and editing days, though my plans are rarely concrete. For example, an event may get rescheduled, a deadline may get pushed, a last minute story may be written, a video could get scrapped for lack of footage, and so on and so on. Although I do enjoy filming, it can be chaotic with travelling (often to an unfamiliar place), parking, navigating events, conducting interviews, capturing good-looking footage, etc.. Video editing is usually a much more predictable activity: download footage, open Premiere Pro, slice, rearrange, animate, and manipulate video into a pleasing sequence. However, predictability does not mean video editing is any easier than filming. What I mean to communicate is that both activities exercise different muscles, something I appreciate as it brings a feeling of balance to my work weeks.
Whenever I’m editing, brainstorming a project, or essentially doing anything but going out and filming, my day will be spent in the MinnPost office. The office is split into the “business” side and the “newsroom” side. As someone who works closely with the journalists and editors, I find myself on the newsroom side. Although I report directly to my supervisor (Executive Editor Elizabeth Dunbar), I collaborate with everyone in the newsroom on video ideas, social media strategy, and, more generally, navigating the world of journalism. A big positive of being in the office (besides my amazing colleagues) is our resident MinnPost dog, Jake. You may be asking yourself, is Jake a service dog? No. Jake is just a dog who really dislikes being away from his father Brian, who works on our business side. For a treat Jake will sit, spin, shake, and roll.
Though this was a very general look at what I do day to day, I think it provides a better sense of what I get up to as a Videography Fellow at MinnPost.
