WHAT WORKS?
WHAT WORKS?
Video has been available online for nearly two decades, but Web technology and users’ video consumption habits have changed greatly during that time. The modes of production and the forms of video have also changed greatly. Video is hugely popular online, and it provides a potentially large revenue stream for news publishers. However, there is no current consensus about how news videos should be produced or how they should look and feel. The conventional wisdom of the past was that videos should be short—in the 60- to 90-second range. This mimicked the run times of video packages on local TV. But video online comes in all lengths, styles, and flavors.
Local TV is still a popular source for news, but local TV news viewership is shrinking (similar to newspapers) as more people turn to the Internet as their primary news source. The Web now presents the greatest growth opportu- nity for video production. I researched and produced the Video Now (http:// videonow.towcenter.org) report with a team from Columbia University to fig- ure out what worked in terms of online news video. We visited newsrooms such as the Washington Post, The Seattle Times, Frontline, Mashable, and Vice. We interviewed dozens more. We observed their processes, interviewed pro- ducers and managers, and we watched many of their videos. After nearly
4 months of research, we came up with some recommendations for produc- ing better online news videos.
1. Get together. Share ideas. Video producers need to get together to share ideas. Newspapers, magazines, and broadcasters all have their conventions and conferences. Video news teams and video producers, in general, seem to work in vacuums. There needs to be more collaboration and idea sharing. Many videographers work as freelancers. It is important for video producers to develop a community and to actively engage with each other.
2. Subject, not medium. Viewers consume news by subject, not by medium.
Audiences do not say: “I want to watch news video.” Audiences come
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Figure 5.1 The Video Now report (videonow.towcenter.org) features recommendations for producing news video.
online for information on specific topics such as Syria, Ukraine, Obamacare, and sports. Video should be embedded with other media, inside a blog post, or next to a graphic. Videos published with other content get more views. Videos left in segregated video sections get ignored.
3. Sports and explainers. Sports and explainer videos did well in every newsroom we visited. Like the old days of print newspapers and TV, people come for sports. Viewers especially love local sports. Audiences also come to be informed about hard-to-understand topics such as economics and health care reform. Both sports and explainer videos consistently got the top number of views in their newsrooms.
4. Be evergreen. Breaking news has a short lifecycle, and breaking news videos rarely get re-watched or shared after their initial publication. To get long-tail views—video plays months or years after release— videos should be on topics that have some news value but can have long runs in the news cycle. A specific military firefight may get some views during the news day, but a long-form investigative story on post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may get years of plays.
5. Long and short. Videos do not have to be short, but shorter videos tend to get more plays. However, viewers will watch long videos (hour- long documentaries) or an entire series if the content is good enough. Length of video does not predict success, but longer videos need to be well-reported, well-told, and have great production value.
6. Social engagement. Video journalists cannot produce a guaranteed viral
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gimmicks such as funny cat videos, news producers need to develop a consistently growing audience. Video producers, whether independent or in newsrooms, should engage new viewers on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Vine. Video producers must learn how these and newly launched platforms really work. We will cover ways to promote your work on social media later in this text.
7. Two teams. In newsrooms today, there should be two teams of video producers. One set of reporters should shoot fast, raw iPhone clips to accompany their text. These unpolished videos should be posted instantly from the field. The value of these videos lies in the speed of their publication. A second team of highly-trained video journalists should focus on producing in-depth and sophisticated video stories. Avoid the “in-between” stories that are common to local TV news. Stories should be up-to-the-second fast, or deeply important.
It is important to understand how videos are consumed online before you head into the process of producing your video story. While the form and approach of your story may change during the reporting and producing process, you must know what kind of story you are crafting and who your target audience might be. If you are a breaking news reporter, then your video should be fast and raw. Footage com- ing straight from smartphones feels unpolished but authentic. If you spend time editing your footage, then it may be too late and you will lose the immediacy and value of your raw video clips. If you are look- ing to produce a longer piece—one that will take you days, weeks, or months—then your story should be worth your production effort and your viewers’ time.