“The consumption of web video is growing. Dramatically. If your website does not have a steady stream of quality local video, then consumers will go somewhere else to find it.” Colin Mulvaney, U.S. multimedia producer, masteringmultimedia.wordpress.com, March 2009.
Journalists are now becoming more independent with the way a story is run. Now journalists are taking their own pictures and shooting their own videos. So for journalists who do not know how to use a camera are being taught how or having to teach themselves. Videos are becoming extremely popular on newspaper websites. The Daily Telegraph has invested in multimedia including video journalism so the journalists at this paper have been giving the right equipment and knowledge on how to create a video. Some of the videos that journalists are creating are reasonably good but there are some which are not a great standard.
Kent online represents a great example of a well shot news report. The camera is held still so a tripod has obviously been used which is vital when shooting a video. The reporter voice is extremely clear which is very important, no one wants to watch a news video where you are unable to hear the reporter. The background sound is also important. It does not want to be too loud because then the reporters voice will get drowned out but it sets the scene if there are noises representing the location of the story.
The Argus online websites uses video reporting as well. The video shown on the link is not great. The shots are not amazing and the camera is shaking which shows it is hand-held. There is not a lot of speech within the video. The video seems to drag on with all the different shots. The advert at the beginning of the video represents how online newspapers will benefit from using videos. This is where they will make their money.
Video journalism is not as easy as it looks but it is becoming extremely more popular and newsrooms have started to invest in video equipment. Is this the start of something big? Will the videos create a higher income for the online newspapers?
“Good journalism is always going to be with us…what will be different is the variety of platforms on which that story will appear… Journalism will be visual. To be able to produce images [and] create video…will be just as important as good writing. ” Andy Cowles, editorial director, IPC Media, June 2007
