The Baseball of Journalism

“There is quality in quantity.”

Branch Rickey said this when he created the minor league system for Major League Baseball in the early part of the 20th century.

Rickey would later go on to integrate baseball as the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers during the 1940s.

He invented the minor league system while he was working for the St. Louis Cardinals, who didn't have the money to compete with the New York Yankees when it came to signing players and finding new talent.

The solution was to sign many players for less money in the hopes that one or two just might turn out to be good.

I have the same approach to journalism when I’m out in the field. I try to get as many quotes from as many people as possible. Most of them don’t make it into the story. Having so many allows me to pick and choose, keeping only the best.

I had to try out this philosophy while I was in Korea shooting my documentary. I’ve learned that I have a really good eye for photography. What I need to work on are my technical skills, and how I am able to execute.

To compensate for this, whenever I was shooting an interview I would make sure to shoot from at least two different angles. The belief was that if the first one didn’t turn out then hopefully the second one would.

A person should never put all of their eggs in one basket, and by getting multiple shots or multiple quotes; the eggs are getting placed in different baskets so when one basket falls, not all of the footage goes down with it.

Ps. For fun, here’s a quote from the Simpsons to inspire: Apu, If It'll Make You Feel Any Better, I've Learned That Life Is One Crushing Defeat After Another Until You Just Wish Flanders Was Dead!