In the three years since the last update on this blog (mea culpa) a lot has changed in the industry. Economy got the best of the newspapers, pixels are replacing paper. As internet becomes more available everywhere, it is also becoming the favorite way people consume news. Of course, all the newspapers established their web presence already, but in the last few years they saw the advertising revenue--the lifeline of the industry--leaving the print and moving toward the internet. The problem is--no one knows how to make profit off the internet.
Experimentation started on how to best exploit the internet for advancement of the online newspapers. First, there were slide shows. Those were easy, since every newspaper had a photo department. Then, they started adding sound to the slide show, which gave a different dimension to the pictures. Then came the video.
Enter: YouTube. World's most famous video sharing site has been around since 2005. It emerged in the moment when digital video started replacing digital photos, when every device has a built-in video camera. YouTube made video accessible for everybody with a computer and a camera, or even with just a mobile phone. It made the video a new plaything for the wide masses and forever changed what the audience wants from the web. Online newspapers jumped on it. If you browse the web pages of almost any newspaper on the globe, you're likely to find some kind of video section on it. The question is how to differentiate newspaper's videos from the ones done by TV channels? We don't have the answer to it yet. Some newspapers emulate the way TV presents the news, which makes me wonder why would anyone watch it online done poorly, when they can watch it on TV done properly? Others are trying to find their own way to incorporate video into the daily offering of news on their web sites. The more creative outlets make a good use of multi-media combining the text, audio, photos and video in interactive form. That could be the winning formula if it's done right.
I was thrown into the whirlwind of this new area of journalism when my career changed from photo editing to multimedia. In the past three years I learned a lot. I also understand there's so much more to learn.
If you're interested in newspapers' video, here you will find some useful tips. Or, maybe you can give us some useful advice too? Either way I thank you for visiting this page and hope you will come back again as the blog updates.
The Boston Globe has an impressive photo web site: The Big Picture. And, yes--the pictures are big! It's worth a click.
