Award-winning photojournalist Thomas P. Costello describes his experience covering the “Trump Insurrection” Jan. 6, in which supporters of President Donald Trump, incited by Trump and other speeches, stormed the US Capitol Jan. 6 in the first sacking of the building since the British attacked the structure in 1814. Costello was at the Capitol livestreaming video for the USA Today Network, and captured memorable images of the crowd attacking the legislative branch of the US government.
Watch our interview with Costello in the player below:
About the Guest
Thomas P. Costello, Asbury Park Press Staff Photographer 02/09/2011
Tom Costello has been a staff photographer at the Asbury Park Press since 1988. His career started with daily news coverage using black and white film, transitioning to an early adopter of digital imaging and web video, to currently using a video camera as a primary storytelling tool. Tom is also an FAA licensed and flight certified as a drone pilot and his drone images have provided striking photojournalism for the Press and the other Gannett/USA Today publications.
The photojournalism bug bit Tom when he started shooting for his high school newspaper and yearbook. When he went to Rutgers his second home there was in the darkroom at the Daily Targum. This also gave him a base to start freelancing for the Associated Press, The Star-Ledger, Home News, Courier-News and the school’s Sports Information Department. While taking classes towards his Journalism degree, he worked an overnight shift on the General Desk at the Associated Press in New York City.
For more than 25 years he has served as the Production Chairman for the National Press Photographer’s Association (NPPA) Northern Short Course in Photojournalism, an annual educational program.
He is a life member of the NPPA and the New Jersey Press Photographers, as well as an Associate Member of the White House News Photographers Association. Tom was part of a team at the Asbury Park Press that was honored as a Pulitzer Prize finalist for their work on the “Tax Crush” series. Last year, he produced videos that were part of the paper’s winning entry in the National Edward R. Murrow Awards. He is a two-time winner of the New Jersey Press Association’s “Innovation” award for video coverage of high school football.
Share this:
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
Steve Lubetkin is the news director for StateBroadcastNews.com. Steve’s journalism background includes print and broadcast reporting for NJ news organizations. He refocused on multimedia journalism and podcast production after a long career in corporate branded journalism and public relations.
He has won numerous awards for his audio and video news reporting from the Garden State Journalists Association, and he has also been recognized for video by the New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He has produced a wide range of audio and video podcasts in his other role as managing partner of State Broadcast News’s parent, The Lubetkin Media Companies.
Steve is co-author, with Toronto-based podcasting pioneer Donna Papacosta, of the book, The Business of Podcasting: How to Take Your Podcasting Passion from the Personal to the Professional.
In March 2021, he was elected to the board of directors of the New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and in July 2021 he was named secretary of the chapter. In August 2021, he was honored by SPJ with one of the organization’s 2021 Howard S. Dubin Outstanding Pro Member Awards, given to regular members of an SPJ chapter who go above and beyond in serving their chapter.
Steve has been the computer columnist for the Jewish Community Voice of Southern New Jersey, since 1996.
Steve also has reported on-camera and produces virtual conferences for NJSpotlightNews.org, a public policy news coverage website focused on New Jersey government and industry; and for clients of StateBroadcastNews.com, a division of The Lubetkin Media Companies LLC.
From May-November 2019, he produced and reported a weekly podcast, The CRE News Hour, a news and features program focusing on the commercial real estate industry.
From 2014 to 2019 he was New Jersey and Philadelphia editor for GlobeSt.com and filled in covering Chicago/Midwest and Atlanta.
Steve has also served (from August 2017 to March 2018) as national broadcast news correspondent for CEOReport.com, a news website focused on practical advice for senior executives in small- and medium-sized companies.
Earlier in his career, Steve reported on rock music at the Jersey Shore for the Asbury Park Press, and was a broadcast news anchor and production engineer for WJLK-AM & FM, then owned by the Press. He also worked as a general assignment reporter for the Red Bank Register, Shrewsbury, NJ.
You can email Steve at steve@statebroadcastnews.com.
Be the first to comment on "Award-Winning Visual Journalist Tom Costello Describes Covering the “Trump Insurrection” on SBN Newsmakers Show"