editor on the verge » Video

How the newspaper industry squandered the writer’s strike

Yoni Greenbaum — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 11:00:13 +0000

I wonder if, during the height of the writer’s strike, newspapers missed out on an opportunity to reintroduce their printed products and/or websites to readers looking for alternatives to reruns and Reality TV? It just seems to me that, as more people were turning to their computers and/or picking up books, newspapers could have used the time to say, in effect, “Hey, remember us? We’re still here and look what we have for you!”

But instead, the big beneficiary of the strike has been online video sites. In December 2007, according to comScore:

77.6 million viewers watched 3.2 billion videos on YouTube.com (41.6 videos per viewer).

40.5 million viewers watched 334 million videos on MySpace.com (8.2 videos per viewer).

The average online video viewer consumed 72 videos.

“With the writer’s strike keeping new TV episodes from reaching the airwaves, viewers have been seeking alternatives for fresh content,” said comScore executive Erin Hunter, “It appears that online video is stepping in to help fill that void.”

Sound to me like that was an opportunity for newspapers, no?

Now, I’m not naive enough to believe that the approximately three-month-long strike by the members of the Writer’s Guild of America could have resulted in enough gains to heal all that ails the newspaper industry. But given the dire straits that many newspapers now find themselves, can they afford to pass on developing any new audience, be it online or in-print?

Can they?

Even for those newspapers who don’t produce video, the strike offered opportunities. For example, I came across this comment on the New York Times website:

“A funny thing happened while the writers were on strike. I started reading more. You all remember books, don’t you? I’m currently working on two books and have a nice list.”

And while that is anecdotal, the Omaha World-Herald reported:

The total number of books sold from Dec. 31, 2007, through Feb. 3, 2008, increased by 5 million, or 7 percent, compared with the same period the previous year, according to Nielsen BookScan.

Strong book sales are even more noteworthy because many retailers report that recession fears have dampened consumer spending.

“People are rediscovering how joyous it is to read,” said Pat Schroeder president of the Association of American Publishers.

Here was an opportunity to showcase what we as an industry naturally do so well. To show off our writing and visual talents, to share our knowledge and remind readers of our continued value. So what did we do? Well, as far as I can tell, absolutely nothing. We simply squandered an opportunity.

Perhaps, we were so caught up in in our own turmoil that we were unable to recognize the opportunity at hand. Or perhaps we just don’t have the fire to fight anymore and have resigned ourselves to our own collapse. While I certainly hope it’s not the latter, our performance doesn’t leave me feeling to confident.

No matter which rationale you choose to go with, I think we’ve reached that moment where as an industry we can’t afford to squander any opportunity no matter how small. Hopefully the next time one comes along, we’ll do a better job embracing it.

Obama video offers valuable lesson

Yoni Greenbaum — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 11:00:23 +0000

I’ve noticed that quite a few media/journalism bloggers have written posts about the will.i.am/Jesse Dylan produced Barack Obama music video. Bloggers from Jeff Jarvis to J.D. Lasica and Wendy Withers have posted the video and many cases written about it, mostly focusing on its political implications. While the politics of the video struck me as well, there was something else that stood out for me — a lesson for the newspaper industry.

When I viewed it for the first time I was struck; here was a great speech given by Obama after the New Hampshire primary and a musical performance by many artists that I liked, combined into a inspirational video. And the combination didn’t just work for me. According to the Viral Video Chart, since Feb 2. the video has been viewed 1,891,780 times and it is currently the number 1 ranked Viral Video.

To me, this was a powerful example of something that I think we in the newspaper industry are still struggling with. To me, the video was a great example of how both the message AND the medium are now both important. If you haven’t seen the video for yourself, take a moment and check it out:

If this was just an OK speech it wouldn’t have mattered how the video appeared and if it were a crappy video, that would have distracted from the message of the speech. To be as effective as it is, it needed to be both. And that is where I think the newspaper industry runs into trouble.

At too many newspapers, on too many websites, we worry more about the quality of the production and less about the quality of the content. And at still too many other newspapers and on too many other websites we worry more about the quality of the content and less about the production value. Thankfully, there are still other newspapers where they’ve managed to strike a happy medium and that is what I hope you take away from the Obama video.

Today newspapers need to focus on both. Perfection is not necessary, but balance is. Just keep reciting, it’s the message AND the medium, the message AND the medium.

Your identity and your videos

Yoni Greenbaum — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 11:00:43 +0000

You’ll have to forgive me if today’s post is a bit on the short side. We’ve got our Online Directors in for a conference this week and I’ve been focusing on analyzing the impact of social network content distribution and developing content plans for some other products. But with the time I have, I thought I would continue the focus on video content.

Previously, I’ve written about using YouTube and the site Hey!Spread to further the reach of your video content and grow your online audience. I think a video distribution plan needs to be a key part of any audience development plan. It is important to keep in mind that as your video reaches more video-sharing sites, it has a greater chance to lose the identification that comes from being associated with your site specific profile. What I mean, is that a video on YouTube appears on your profile page, along with your newspaper.com address and other information about your site. But when it appears in a widget or gets pulled onto another page, it no longer has that visible association with your profile.

One solution to this problem is to not post your video to video-sharing sites. The other, more realistic solution, is to make sure that your video is branded.

How many times have you watched a video on CNN or MSNBC and not seen any branding — no logos, no titles, nothing that tells you it’s from CNN? The answer is likely never. Similar to CNN, you should make sure that your video includes a title page that provides that name of the video, date, and possibly even the names of the photographer or reporter. During the video, consider using a logo or watermark, you know, like the peacock NBC uses in the lower right hand corner. And when the video ends, include a web address where the viewer can go to find more information or see other videos.

If you want, you can standardize this material so that your not remaking it every time. The title screen could simply say something along the lines of “A presentation of Newspaper.com.”

I encourage you to discuss and address this issue in your newsrooms, and if you’re not already branding your videos, start doing so.

Get free help with video distribution

Yoni Greenbaum — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 11:00:45 +0000

Since videos seem to be all the rage in newsrooms across the country, I thought I would share one of my favorite tips for getting your video out to the masses.

As many of us have learned, it is no longer enough to post your videos on your own site. In order to reach the most viewers and to grow your online brand, it is now important to get your video onto as many sites as possible. The shear growth of video sharing sites, beyond YouTube, makes that endeavor seem insurmountable.

As with any perceived online problem, someone has come up with a solution. Allow me to introduce you to Hey!Spread, a “video sneezer.”

Hey!Spread (which is free) allows you to upload your video, write a description, tags and select a category and with what amounts to be the click of button, have that video distributed to 17 different video sharing sites. You get YouTube, Blip.TV, Metacafe and Vimeo, plus sites like Facebook and MySpace to name a few. Once submitted, you’ll receive an email outlining which sites have received and accepted the video and what the link is.

Obviously in order to make this work, you need to have created accounts at all of these sites. Just like using Hey!Spread is an opportunity to easily disseminate your video work, a presence on sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Dailymotion is an opportunity to reach additional readers and showcase your other work. From your profile you can point people back to newspaper.com site. From your videos you can link to your articles and supporting stories.

With Hey!Spread, you can get your video onto 17 sites in the time it typically takes to post to just one. You still have the option to go to the individual sites and tweak your video description or headline and fine-tune your tags or if you want, you can just let it stand on its own.

This is a great opportunity to draw additional visitors to your newspaper’s site. And, like meta tags, there is no reason not to try it.

Black Friday opportunities

Yoni Greenbaum — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 13:47:23 +0000

I had a reporter who, years ago, got in line at 4 a.m. on Black Friday to be able to tell our readers what it felt like to among the hundreds of shoppers who had lined up hours in advance of a store opening.

While we lacked the video and audio tools available in most newsrooms today, she was able to write a compelling story about the club-like atmosphere where mothers, girlfriends and college students huddled together on one of the busiest shopping days of the year. And together with some photos, it was the centerpiece of our Saturday newspaper.

I can only imagine what that coverage would have looked like if we were doing it today.

Between text messaging, video, audio slide shows, mapping mashups, user generated content this type of coverage has no bounds.

So what did your news organization do for Black Friday coverage? Share your efforts and successes.

Top 25 Newspapers With a Presence on YouTube

Yoni Greenbaum — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 01:46:30 +0000

The following are the YouTube profiles for the top 25 newspapers that are on the site. The rankings are based data compiled by Nielsen Online and reported in Editor and Publisher:

Editors: Let your video go

Yoni Greenbaum — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 11:45:39 +0000

I continue to be amazed and frustrated by just how many newspapers refuse to recognize the value of social networks. It seems as if the daily newspapers in the state where I live, New Jersey, are either blind to these opportunities or are still under the belief that they are operating in a bygone era.

Let’s just look at YouTube, the popular video-sharing network. While news organizations including The Washington Post, the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune all have a presence on the site, of the 16 daily newspapers in New Jersey, I could only find two (2) that have profiles on the site.

The Star Ledger (Newark, NJ) and the Jersey Journal (Jersey City, NJ) both have profiles with the Ledger operating a kind of user-generated content aggregator off their page (I should note that both are Advance Publications, so the YouTube presence could be part of a corporate initiative). Meanwhile many of the other daily newspapers, including The Record (Hackensack, NJ), the Daily Record (Morristown, NJ) and the Asbury Park Press (Neptune, NJ) shoot video and offer it on their own website, they don’t push it to YouTube or any other video sharing site.

I shake my head and wonder if these organizations realize the brand and audience development opportunities they are missing out on. I can think of no good reason for these newsrooms to shoot, edit and post video only on their own websites, thus limiting their online reach and canceling any viral effect.

Posting on YouTube or any of the other dozen or so video sharing sites exposes not just an individual video to a new and broader audience, but also exposes the work of the rest of the newspaper’s staff. Additionally, there is no reason why YouTube (or one of the other sites) can’t serve as an economical video hosting solution for these outlets. Why should they pay for a private company to host videos or worry about their own hardware and bandwidth issues, trying to host themselves?

I’m sure the editors of the remaining 14 newsrooms have a reason for why they don’t take advantage of any of the video-sharing sites; a reason for why they would reject a simple opportunity to grow audience; and even a reason for why they seemingly believe that their (outdated) approach is right and the rest of us (including yours truly) are wrong.