Traditional Newspapers Experiment with Video During Election Season
By David Tobia
October 15, 2012
October 15, 2012
- Traditional American newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Washington Post have been exploring new ways to produce valuable video content that does not simply emulate television.
- The presidential election has provided each with valuable opportunities to experiment with new video techniques.
- WSJ has bolstered its video content by using a filterable reverse chronological stream of videos called WorldStream. The application allows reporters to submit videos quickly, and allows for instant editing. This eliminates the time consuming process of calling editors and describing video.
- The paper says there is no optimal length for video content. Tablet users prefer longer videos usually, but mobile users prefer short, quick sound bites. This means video producers must cater to both interests.
- The New York Times produced more than 20 hours of video surrounding the political conventions, but said the largest challenge was to create unique content in such a saturated market. The paper also experimented with new ways to show viewers that the videos existed, such as tweaking the design and presentation to encourage video clicks.
- The Washington Post used Google+ Hangouts as a way to reach users in an attempt to promote a “more casual, living room-style” for its videos.
- The video departments for these newspapers are not as large as big cable companies and do not have similar production budgets, so they have to get creative to be successful in video content.
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