Multimedia’s Affect on Readership of Print Newspapers
by Chari Sutherland
Edited by Pricilla Kathe
by Chari Sutherland
Edited by Pricilla Kathe
The newspaper industry has been concentrating many efforts lately on keeping their readers reading. This concern has increased the use of multimedia on news Web sites as a way of engaging the audience more. But the idea of readers flocking to Web sites because of video is uncertain.
The Athens Banner-Herald has been using video on their Web site for three years. Melissa Hanna, Executive Editor of the Banner-Herald, said the videos they use are all locally oriented. She said, readership “is a difficult thing to determine.” She said most of the time they find that readers appreciate the videos, especially those covering UGA games.
Susan Catron, Executive Editor at the Savannah Morning News, said, she can’t tell if videos are paying off in print readership or not, even though they upload a lot of videos their readers want to see.
“What I think has happened is we have become a brand,” Catron said. “That’s what I want. When people are looking for news, I want them to see us as that source.”
She said deciding when to use video depends on which stories are better told in that medium. For some stories, it gives that added dimension, she said.
“Today we have up (on the Web site) a video showing how an explosion in Savannah happened,” Catron said. “It explains very well how 14 people died. I don’t know if we could’ve told that story in a better way.”
The Savannah Morning News monitors how many times a video has been viewed and passed on to friends. “That’s key—if it was passed along,” Catron said.
Dave Enna is the Web site Manager for Content at the Charlotte Observer, which has been using video for six years. The paper produces about 15 videos a week. Enna said video page views are only a small amount of the millions of page views the Observer gets daily. In spite of this, they continue to see video as a plus. He said they are good for certain types of content.
They recently did a video story about a child with a severe disability due to a brain tumor. “(Readers) could see how the child acted due to the disorder,” he said. “This helped support the story.”
Catron says her paper also provides their readers access to AP videos from their AP feed. Readers pick what they want to see from the feed. The Charlotte Observer also subscribes to the AP video feed, said Dave Enna, The Observer’s Web site Manager for Content. “We get 1000 page views a day from it,” he said.
All three papers rely heavily on video for sports coverage. Catron said her paper also does Web casts for local football. At the Charlotte Observer, two videos are produced each week to cover sports. Sometimes they embed YouTube videos and provide streamlined, live video, Enna said.
In addition to Web casts for football, Catron said, the Savannah Morning News also provides Web casts for movie reviews and music reviews. She said they plan to add podcasts this year to add to their variety of news delivery. “You have to throw (ideas) at the wall and see what makes them stick.”
The Athens Banner-Herald has been using video on their Web site for three years. Melissa Hanna, Executive Editor of the Banner-Herald, said the videos they use are all locally oriented. She said, readership “is a difficult thing to determine.” She said most of the time they find that readers appreciate the videos, especially those covering UGA games.
Susan Catron, Executive Editor at the Savannah Morning News, said, she can’t tell if videos are paying off in print readership or not, even though they upload a lot of videos their readers want to see.
“What I think has happened is we have become a brand,” Catron said. “That’s what I want. When people are looking for news, I want them to see us as that source.”
She said deciding when to use video depends on which stories are better told in that medium. For some stories, it gives that added dimension, she said.
“Today we have up (on the Web site) a video showing how an explosion in Savannah happened,” Catron said. “It explains very well how 14 people died. I don’t know if we could’ve told that story in a better way.”
The Savannah Morning News monitors how many times a video has been viewed and passed on to friends. “That’s key—if it was passed along,” Catron said.
Dave Enna is the Web site Manager for Content at the Charlotte Observer, which has been using video for six years. The paper produces about 15 videos a week. Enna said video page views are only a small amount of the millions of page views the Observer gets daily. In spite of this, they continue to see video as a plus. He said they are good for certain types of content.
They recently did a video story about a child with a severe disability due to a brain tumor. “(Readers) could see how the child acted due to the disorder,” he said. “This helped support the story.”
Catron says her paper also provides their readers access to AP videos from their AP feed. Readers pick what they want to see from the feed. The Charlotte Observer also subscribes to the AP video feed, said Dave Enna, The Observer’s Web site Manager for Content. “We get 1000 page views a day from it,” he said.
All three papers rely heavily on video for sports coverage. Catron said her paper also does Web casts for local football. At the Charlotte Observer, two videos are produced each week to cover sports. Sometimes they embed YouTube videos and provide streamlined, live video, Enna said.
In addition to Web casts for football, Catron said, the Savannah Morning News also provides Web casts for movie reviews and music reviews. She said they plan to add podcasts this year to add to their variety of news delivery. “You have to throw (ideas) at the wall and see what makes them stick.”
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Lead: When 14 people die in an explosion words just don’t do it justice.
ReplyDeleteNew source: Ask web designer how many views the story about the explosion got and how quickly to back up the lead. He will also provide fresh information for the story.
My other edits were mostly for clarity and grammar.
Chari--interesting story. What I didn't get from the story is why papers feel the need to put more video on the site. Taking Priscilla's lead suggestion will really help clear this up.
ReplyDeleteThe story has a lot of good information and excellent sources, but doesn't flow very well. I see your pattern -- name your source and have them say what they have to say.
Work on better transitions. Make ideas be your transition rather than a change of source. Make sense?