Staff Sgt. Ben Houtkooper with the 34th Red Bull Infantry Division is the top journalist of September. He is spotlighted as an outstanding videographer because of the quality of the footage he submits to DVIDS, his responsiveness... read more
Staff Sgt. Ben Houtkooper with the 34th Red Bull Infantry Division is the top journalist of September. He is spotlighted as an outstanding videographer because of the quality of the footage he submits to DVIDS, his responsiveness to requests and his communication with the DVIDS team. <br />
First off, he produces the "The Red Bull Report," a newscast featuring stories on the 34th Infantry Division. The visual quality of the newscast combined with its availability in 1080i high definition makes it more marketable to internal media. <br />
Getting a jumpstart on the holidays, Houtkooper has already submitted greetings for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Sending greetings early with the proper spreadsheet increases the chances that media outlets will air the greetings. <br />
Looking back at Houtkooper's work over the past year, his passion can be seen in the type of stories he produces like "Graduation Day from a World Away" where a deployed Soldier watches her daughter graduate from high school. He edits his b-roll down to the best shots that are exposed properly, white balanced and contain good audio. <br />
Houtkooper's success also hinges on his responsiveness to media requests. Over the past month he has submitted numerous sports shout outs requested by the media team. Like Houtkooper, a videographer is more likely to place products in the media by providing footage the media is already requesting. Media may also be more willing to run a story important to a military broadcaster if the broadcaster assisted them with a request in the past. <br />
Even if video is well produced it may not be marketable or usable if background information is not included on a slate and a press release if possible. However, Houtkooper doesn't make that mistake. He slates the footage with all the information needed for media specialists to market it and media outlets to find it when searching the DVIDS site. The DVIDS editors are also able to track his footage and process it within the two-hour turnaround time because he submits it through DVIDS Delivery. <br />
Besides the slates, Houtkooper also stays in contact with the DVIDS team through emails and phone calls, which keeps the communication lines open and thus results in greater success for the 34th Infantry Division and DVIDS. <br />
For all these reasons, we salute him as the DVIDS Journalist of the month. You can view more of Houtkooper's and other military broadcasters work through his journalist portfolio. show less
