Lance Cpl. Christofer Baines is the January 2012 Journalist of the Month. His selection was for his fresh photojournalist approach to what would have been routine material. He used his videographer skills to show a different perspectiv more

Lance Cpl. Christofer Baines is the January 2012 Journalist of the Month. His selection was for his fresh photojournalist approach to what would have been routine material. He used his videographer skills to show a different perspective on operations both on and off the base. In addition to his use of high definition video photography, he narrated and hosted several video packages. This effort has had a huge impact with internal military media, as well as social media alike.

Baines is deployed with American Forces Network Afghanistan at Bagram Air Field. He was selected to deploy in 2011 as an individual augmentee to American Forces Network Afghanistan as an un-tested broadcaster. After arriving in Afghanistan, and with just one month of on- the-job training, he became one of AFN Afghanistan’s primary shooters, covering stories throughout the country on a regular basis.

"Lance Cpl. Baines came to AFN Afghanistan as brand new to the craft, but he has something that not everyone with experience has - he has the motivation and the talent to want to tell good stories," said Army Master Sgt. Erick Ritterby, senior enlisted advisor, AFN Afghanistan.

By not being afraid to get up close with his camera, Baines effectively used his solid techniques to highlight new scanner equipment being dropped off at Bagram Air Field in his video “Scanner Helps Security Forces – B-roll.” He skillfully framed his shot and carefully chose backgrounds for interviews rather than just using a blank backdrop. Baines also provided the video “Scanner Helps Security Forces – Package, Long” to tell the B-roll story.

"He is like a sponge when it comes to learning about the art of storytelling. He does not settle for mediocrity. He knows he has a long way to go, but he is focused on telling the best stories he can to highlight the American war-fighter," added Ritterby.

In addition to his B-roll, Baines has also produced several human interest pieces that have a high number of downloads.

The DVIDS staff has also noted that he always provides detailed slates for each of his video stories and uses good audio levels, which makes his videos more attractive to media. Most importantly, however, his stories are timely and sent within two days, if not the same day they are produced. This timeliness makes his material more marketable with internal military media.

Baines’ material had the top number of downloads for January, totaling at 156, and also finished high in web views, totaling at 1,180. He was in the top 10 for distributions and placements and much of his material was detected on the Pentagon Channel, Twitter and YouTube.   less