Questions for Amy O' Leary

As newspaper move more towards online content, do you think the need for multimedia producers and journalists will increase in the future? What are your thoughts on a journalist being able to do everything? Write, photograph, gather audio, and shoot video? Do you think its risky to spread your skills and talents too wide? Or do you think it will be more competitive for us? What is one piece of advice you will give someone graduating with multimedia skills looking for a job?

When you are producing a multimedia piece, how difficult is it collaborating with the photographer, reporter, or videographer. Because you mentioned that you spend part of your time training them on how to get great audio, do you have conflicts and if so, how do you resolve them? We all have our own different views, as an editor how do you defend your view and how do you deal with it?

Coming from This American Life, the radio world, how difficult was it for you to produce multimedia at the New York Times, integrating stills and video with audio (something that you are comfortable with) How was your transition from being a radio journalist to producing multimedia content for a newspaper like the New York Times? And now working with multimedia, which medium best tells a story? You mentioned in an interview that you sound best describe emotion and feeling.

What are some of your inspirations for your stories? How do you come up with story ideas and structure them?