Oct 21 2008
Newspaper Video - 7 strategies for success(maybe)
Yesterday a journalist who (still) works at a big Florida newspaper told me, “Last year we were trying to shoot as much video as possible. This year, we’re trying to save the paper. - Mindy McAdams.
A year or so ago video was going to save newspapers! - so what went wrong? Why are newspaper execs losing faith in the redeeming power of video? Video is working in so many other sectors - YouTube is now the second most popular search engine - but newspapers are struggling to find successful strategies for online video.
7 tips to encourage those of you in regional newsrooms across the US who haven’t given up on video.
1. Ban people who teach videojournalism from judging videojournalism awards. This is just a self-fulfilling method of promoting an unproven agenda. Yes I am a great teacher - students who follow my methods win awards.
2. Ban videojournalism awards, that are not based on real world performance. The very notion of refining video strategy with rosettes assumes that there are an elite group of judges who have the answers every one is looking for.
3. Encourage transparent competition - put all the videos on youtube get journalists to compete for “minutes-viewed” or whatever. Video-journalism is a trade/craft - it is not an art-form. Dieing penniless and scorned is not an option.
4. Get reliable metrics. What does “1000 hits on a video” mean? Did anyone ever watch past 30 seconds? And if it does mean 1000 people watched the whole thing, then how many people watched the first 10 seconds then clicked out?
5. Fail fast - the idea that audiences take time to build is seductive. “Is our policy working? Well people need to catch on”. People caught on to the iPod pretty quick.
6. Caffeinated video - Habits not hits. This is the biggest problem with metrics - it is relatively easy to measure minutes viewed, but it can be difficult to tell the decaf from the regular. Until you notice your customers keep coming back for more.
7. Telling truth to power. As a commercial videographer I produce videos for clients who want to present certain aspects of what they do in a certain light. Way too much video on newspaper sites is doing the same thing. The client/subject agrees to collaborate with the videographer, knowing that he will receive positive treatment. It is not in newspapers interests that the barrier between journalism and press releases is further eroded. Not in my interests either.
[…] Newspaper Video - 7 strategies for success(maybe) outlines the following very intelligent advice: 1. Ban people who teach videojournalism from judging videojournalism awards. This is just a self-fulfilling method of promoting an unproven agenda. Yes I am a great teacher - students who follow my methods win awards. […]
[…] post info By Alexandre Gamela Categories: Communicare, Corrente | Current, Links e Multimédia | Multimedia Tags: jornalismo, journalism, mitos, myths, online, video, web Newspaper Video - 7 strategies for success(maybe) […]
[…] Ralph recently wrote 7 tips to encourage those of you in regional newsrooms across the U.S. who haven’t given up on…, and Rob Curley wrote Newspaper-produced video: quality vs. quantity? in response to a really nice […]
[…] series started with a question: Newspapers thought about two years ago that video would save them. What ever happened to that? Peter says, “Video-journalism is a trade/craft - it is not an art-form.” He discusses […]
[…] Peter Ralph, in his blog Video 2 Zero, said maybe that’s because we are making the wrong rules. He inspires us to reconsider what we’re asking of ourselves with Seven strategies for video success. […]
[…] a big video campaign? The implications are worth some thought, says Mindy McAdams. She points to Peter Ralph’s seven strategies for success and Rob Curley’s quantity versus quality […]