By Christina Barron
After countless efforts in trying to find a mainstream journalist to interview about their uses of social media, I found Jason Straud. After we met in 2007 in Pamplona, Spain for the San Fermine festival (the running of the bulls), I hadn’t heard from him or knew of his whereabouts. However, during a reunion party for the same trip to Spain I had taken 3 years ago, Jason was in attendance and I was in luck. With my laptop in hand, I drilled Jason on his years in journalism and how he keeps in touch with the States while he’s exploring the world, searching for his next story.
How long have you been in journalism?
Well, if you count being a staff writer on my high school news paper, probably around 20 years. But the real stuff started when I got into Columbia (University), so to be accurate, 16 years.
Why did you decide to become a journalist and what lead you to film?
My mother, is head of the Journalism department at FAU (Florida Atlantic University) and she always told me that if I see a story worth telling, I should do something about it. Eventually, that’s all I saw, stories to tell, and the farther you travel from home, the more you see. I just want to share my experiences with people.
Jason is an independent film maker/journalist who covers different events mostly in Europe and the political situations surrounding those events. His favorite is the San Fermine festival, which he attends every year.
What social media platforms do you use when you’re out of the country?
A lot of the work I do involves pictures and film so I have several YouTube accounts and I’m active on Flickr. I have a Facebook and I usually post pieces that I’m working on, but that’s really to show friends and family back home what I’m up to. I’m not so much into creating a fan base.
So what about the Twitter trend that’s come up in the past couple years? Have you taken advantage of that at all?
Although most of my friends use Twitter and tell me all the time that I should “Tweet” I haven’t found much personal interest in it. I guess you could say I’m still a little old fashion when it comes to these trends.
Okay, well what about blogging? Have you done any of that lately?
I have to confess, I do blog often. Although, I don’t really consider it so much to be social media. I post things on my page and people will comment. Mostly, I give updates on where I am and pictures with a tiny descriptive paragraph. Nothing special.
Well since you do so much traveling have you ever used Foursquare? The GPS check-in app that you can get on phones?
That does sound pretty nifty to have along and it is a very popular thing in Europe, but you can’t exactly check into an African tribe café or a brothel in France. My Foursquare would be pretty interesting to follow, I won’t argue with that.
About how much time a week do you spend using social media for work?
Depending on what I’ve shot, I could spend hours perfecting and e-mailing my work to people and my editors. On the other hand, some weeks are less than exciting and I will only go on the internet to check mail or look at the Daily Show reruns. My social media use is subjective to the work I do but I don’t mind. Being constantly connected strips you of that “free” feeling you get when you travel.
Jason has been to 6 out of the 7 continents and covered stories from Australia to Austria. He prefers to travel with a small team of friends that also share his passion for journalistic film. They have been a team for the past 10 years.
Have you been satisfied with the results of your efforts?
I’ve been extremely happy with my results and my work. I was blessed with this opportunity to see things people may never know about or be able to share with others. I do admit, maybe I would change my unconnected ways and start to utilize the tools that are available to me but I think that the people who read my stories and see my videos are the ones worthy of my work. Things shouldn’t be handed out so easily as they are today. You have to work for what you want to find.
Jason is currently working on a film and photo gallery in Japan. He is covering the overpopulation problem and effect that big industry is having on people’s health. Jason also mentioned looking into the fishing and whaling industry there because it seemed to be a “hot topic” since his visit home.
After countless efforts in trying to find a mainstream journalist to interview about their uses of social media, I found Jason Straud. After we met in 2007 in Pamplona, Spain for the San Fermine festival (the running of the bulls), I hadn’t heard from him or knew of his whereabouts. However, during a reunion party for the same trip to Spain I had taken 3 years ago, Jason was in attendance and I was in luck. With my laptop in hand, I drilled Jason on his years in journalism and how he keeps in touch with the States while he’s exploring the world, searching for his next story.
How long have you been in journalism?
Well, if you count being a staff writer on my high school news paper, probably around 20 years. But the real stuff started when I got into Columbia (University), so to be accurate, 16 years.
Why did you decide to become a journalist and what lead you to film?
My mother, is head of the Journalism department at FAU (Florida Atlantic University) and she always told me that if I see a story worth telling, I should do something about it. Eventually, that’s all I saw, stories to tell, and the farther you travel from home, the more you see. I just want to share my experiences with people.
Jason is an independent film maker/journalist who covers different events mostly in Europe and the political situations surrounding those events. His favorite is the San Fermine festival, which he attends every year.
What social media platforms do you use when you’re out of the country?
A lot of the work I do involves pictures and film so I have several YouTube accounts and I’m active on Flickr. I have a Facebook and I usually post pieces that I’m working on, but that’s really to show friends and family back home what I’m up to. I’m not so much into creating a fan base.
So what about the Twitter trend that’s come up in the past couple years? Have you taken advantage of that at all?
Although most of my friends use Twitter and tell me all the time that I should “Tweet” I haven’t found much personal interest in it. I guess you could say I’m still a little old fashion when it comes to these trends.
Okay, well what about blogging? Have you done any of that lately?
I have to confess, I do blog often. Although, I don’t really consider it so much to be social media. I post things on my page and people will comment. Mostly, I give updates on where I am and pictures with a tiny descriptive paragraph. Nothing special.
Well since you do so much traveling have you ever used Foursquare? The GPS check-in app that you can get on phones?
That does sound pretty nifty to have along and it is a very popular thing in Europe, but you can’t exactly check into an African tribe café or a brothel in France. My Foursquare would be pretty interesting to follow, I won’t argue with that.
About how much time a week do you spend using social media for work?
Depending on what I’ve shot, I could spend hours perfecting and e-mailing my work to people and my editors. On the other hand, some weeks are less than exciting and I will only go on the internet to check mail or look at the Daily Show reruns. My social media use is subjective to the work I do but I don’t mind. Being constantly connected strips you of that “free” feeling you get when you travel.
Jason has been to 6 out of the 7 continents and covered stories from Australia to Austria. He prefers to travel with a small team of friends that also share his passion for journalistic film. They have been a team for the past 10 years.
Have you been satisfied with the results of your efforts?
I’ve been extremely happy with my results and my work. I was blessed with this opportunity to see things people may never know about or be able to share with others. I do admit, maybe I would change my unconnected ways and start to utilize the tools that are available to me but I think that the people who read my stories and see my videos are the ones worthy of my work. Things shouldn’t be handed out so easily as they are today. You have to work for what you want to find.
Jason is currently working on a film and photo gallery in Japan. He is covering the overpopulation problem and effect that big industry is having on people’s health. Jason also mentioned looking into the fishing and whaling industry there because it seemed to be a “hot topic” since his visit home.
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