Poynter's Video Storytelling Workshop (9/25)

Reminder to all videojournalists to tune in at 10 a.m. (ET) this Saturday for the 2010 edition of Poynter's Video Storytelling Workshop, brought to you by Poynter's NewsU and the National Press Photographers Foundation.

In this full day of training, veteran photojournalists will show you how to find and develop memorable characters; how to make mundane stories -- like meetings and weather stories -- more interesting; and how to anticipate moments in the field, even on tight deadlines.

Presenters:

Darren Durlach, NPPA's 2009 Ernie Crisp Television News Photographer of the Year, and senior photojournalist at WBFF-TV in Baltimore;

Lynn French, assistant chief photographer and veteran multimedia journalist at KPNX-TV in Phoenix ;

Jason Witmer, winner of numerous NPPA and Texas AP awards for his work as a solo videojournalist for Chron.com in Houston;

Joe Fryer, winner of four national Edward R. Murrow awards and a regional Emmy for best reporter in 2009, of KARE-TV in Minneapolis

The host is Poynter's Al Tompkins.

On your computer, you can see and hear the presentations and join the interactive discussion -- asking and answering questions posed by the speakers. Your advance registration will give you online access to the replays of each presentation when they become available.

Tuition is $65, with discounts for NPPA members and students.

For more information and to register, go here.

Nieman Journalism Lab's New Free App

Harvard University's Nieman Journalism Lab released a new app this week (for iPhone/iPod/iPad) that it touts as "the best way to keep up with what's happening with the future of journalism. It brings you all the latest news from the Lab along with the best from around the web: new startups, innovation at established news organizations, and new ways to do great journalism online."

Here's what it features:

— In the Lab: The full text of all our stories here at the Lab, in mobile-friendly form. Scroll through what we’ve been writing, click through on our links — and when you’ve read a piece worth sharing, it’s easy to post it on Twitter, email it to a friend, or open it in Safari.

— On Twitter: Our Twitter feed, updated throughout the day, is an essential guide to the most interesting links on the traditional journalism world, new startups, advertising, marketing, and social media.

— Hot Links: We’re excited about this one. We’ve curated a list of the most influential corners of the future-of-news Twitterverse and, using the web service Hourly Press, scan through them for the links they’re talking about most. This list of 10 links, updated hourly, is the purest jolt of future-of-news talk online.

— Friends of the Lab: Here you’ll find the latest from our sister projects — Nieman Storyboard, Nieman Watchdog, and Nieman Reports — plus some of our other friends from Harvard. Plus, we give you quick and easy access to the public RSS feeds of some of the best sources of journalism news: The New York Times’ media coverage, paidContent, Poynter, MediaShift, Romenesko, Columbia Journalism Review, and Mashable. As always, tap on the headline to get the full story.

— Search: Curious what we’ve written about The Guardian, aggregation, Bill Keller, or MinnPost? We’ve got full-text search of the Lab’s archives, so you’re just a few taps away from finding out.

Download the free app here. And here's a video demo:

Nieman Journalism Lab iPhone app from Nieman Journalism Lab.

Video Storytelling Workshop, 9/25

Poynter Institute's News University and the National Press Photographers Foundation are again teaming up to present their second annual Video Storytelling Workshop on Saturday, September 25.

It's a day-long live tutorial, and if you can't attend the session or the broadcast, it will be archived online soon after the session for all those who register.

Learn how to be today's savvy video journalist. Produce creative stories while making immediate deadlines, multitasking as a solo reporter, covering the same-old-story assignments, and managing nonconventional devices to get the story done.

This is your opportunity to learn from veteran journalists who are successful at handling new technology and adapting to new reporting practices, all while staying creative.

The program consists of four hour-long presentations, each with a Q-and-A session. You can participate in person at Poynter's Florida campus, or via your computer.

Tuition is $65, with discounts for members of the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA).

Instructors:

Darren Durlach won the Ernie Crisp National Photographer of the year title this year, for the second year in the row. In the contest’s 66-year history, the award has only been won back-to-back 2 other times. He has won over 80 other national and regional awards, including 11 Emmys.

Lynn French is the Assistant Chief Photographer, the producer of JOBS 911 and a multimedia journalist at KPNX-TV in Phoenix, AZ. She is a native New Mexican and has worked in TV news for 19 years throughout her homeland, plus Texas and North Carolina.

Jason Witmer has won NPPA and Texas AP awards for videos he has produced while working as solo video journalist for Chron.com in Houston, Tex. Previous to this, Witmer produced radio pieces for programs such as NPR's All Things Considered, freelanced as a magazine writer and completed a master's degree in journalism from UC-Berkeley.

Joe Fryer, from KARE TV in Minneapolis, MN. He has received four national Edward R. Murrow awards, including the prestigious Writing Murrow in 2006. He also won the regional Emmy for best reporter in 2009. For the past year, Joe has been runner up NPPA Photojournalism Award for Reporting.

Go here for more info, and to register.

Video Storytelling Workshop (NPPA & Poynter)

The Poynter Institute and the National Photographers Press Foundation are again teaming up to present a day-long event that will help you be a better videojournalist: Video Storytelling Workshop: 2010 Edition

Mark your calendar: Saturday, September 25, 2010, starting at 10:00am ET.

They're offering four hour-long presentations with a Q&A session, and you can take it on-site at Poynter's campus in St. Petersburg, Florida, or online in your own home or office.

"The online live event will be available to everyone who enrolls, even if you choose to join us on-site and at the last-minute can't make it. Everyone will have access to the live virtual presentations and posted replays, even if you stay the whole day with us or just join us for a session or two. Each presentation will be sold separately after the live event. Your registration will give you access to the replay plus our bonus resources."

Cost is $65, with discounts for NPPA members.

Learn how to be today's savvy video journalist. Produce creative stories while making immediate deadlines, multitasking as a solo reporter, covering the same-old-story assignments, and managing nonconventional devices to get the story done.

This is your opportunity to learn from veteran journalists who are successful at handling new technology and adapting to new reporting practices, all while staying creative.

A complete roster of presenters and topics will be posted soon on the NPPA and Poynter's News University Websites. So far, Darren Durlach has committed to returning as an instructor this year. Durlach is a photojournalist at WBFF-TV in Baltimore, Md., and winner of the 2009 Ernie Crisp Television News Photographer of the Year.

Who Are the New Content Providers?

Poynter's online News University is offering a one-hour live Webinar on "The New Content Providers and the Media" on Thursday June 24 at 2 p.m. ET. (Registration entitles you to access an archived "replay" at your convenience.)

The course's focus is on "a new generation of content providers collecting, producing and distributing user-generated stories."

These low-cost, high-volume content distributors have captured the attention of major media players. These organizations, including Associated Content, Demand Media, AllVoices, Helium and others, are growing fast. Learn whether and how they meet consumer appetite for news. What is the quality of the content they are producing? Can writers make a living from them? How are these services filling gaps in traditional media coverage?

This Webinar will discuss these new content providers, their products and how they affect traditional news organizations.

Topics include:

# Who are the leading new content providers?
# What are the costs in developing a network?
# What type of content are they producing?
# Where is their content being distributed?
# How can they benefit journalists?
# Are they competitors or partners?
# How can they serve traditional media outlets?

Course instructor Mitch Gelman is a former Newsday reporter who served as Senior Vice President and Executive Producer at CNN.com from 2001 through 2009 before joining Examiner.com as Vice President, Special Projects.

Tuition is $27.95; free for members of the Online News Association (ONA).

Register here.

New Report Shows Boom in Online Video Produced by Media Organizations

Brightcove and TubeMogul recently issued a research report to "identify key industry trends" that may lift the spirits of media organizations that have been grumbling about the financial state of online news video. (Brightcove is a videoplayer platform; TubeMogul is a video ad platform.)

Here are some of their key findings:

Growth Trends

• Broadcast networks and pure-play Web media properties represent the fastest growing sectors for online video streams.
• Newspaper and magazine publishers have the greatest number of video players across online media properties.
• Newspaper publishers show the most growth in video production for online properties, followed by broadcast networks and pure-play Web media brands.

Engagement

• Online video content from broadcast networks attracts the most viewing time per video.
• Newspaper and magazine publishers garner the highest online video viewing completion rates.
• Consumers in the U.S. average more minutes of video watched per stream from broadcast networks and newspaper publishers, compared to their European counterparts who average more minutes per stream from magazine publishers and music labels.

Discovery

• Google generates the highest volume of referral traffic to online video content, followed by Yahoo!, Bing and Facebook.
• Compared to search engines and other social media sites, Twitter referrals generate the highest level of consumer engagement for online video content from broadcast networks, magazine publishers and music labels.  Newspaper publishers see the highest level of engagement from viewers who find their content via Yahoo!.

Formats & Strategy

• In-stream video advertising is the dominant ad format followed by  overlays, sponsorships, companions and player skins.
• Despite experimentation with other ad formats, 35 percent of survey respondents said in-stream video advertising produced the most revenue for their media business compared to other ad formats.
• For in-stream advertising, respondents said the dominant insertion point is pre-roll, followed by post-roll, player load and mid-roll.
• More than half of the survey respondents indicated that they would add sponsorships to their monetization strategy for online video this year.
• Close to 70 percent of respondents said that their media companies sell their own advertising versus using an ad network.
• While just over 10 percent of respondents said that they currently distribute ad-supported video content to mobile devices, more than 50 percent said that they will roll out ad-supported mobile video within the next twelve months.

Video Stream Trend Data

Broadcast networks and pure-play Web media properties represent strongest growth sectors:

 Broadcast networks and pure-play Web media brands represent the largest volume of online video streams with a combined quarterly run rate that now surpasses 700 million streams.
 Last year, these broadcast networks grew online video streams by 74 percent. During the same period, Web media brands grew online video streams by 165 percent.
 Data from Q1 of 2010 suggests another strong growth year for both media industry verticals. Broadcast networks have started the year doing more than 380 million video streams, which represents a 44 percent increase compared to the same quarter last year. Similarly, Web media brands kicked off 2010 with 326 million video streams, which is an increase of more than 300 percent compared to Q1 of 2009.

Magazine publishers and music labels achieve next highest volume of video streams:

 Magazine publishers have achieved eight consecutive quarters of video stream growth.
 Overall, magazine publishers grew video streams by nearly 100 percent between 2008 and 2009.
 Magazine publishers walked into 2010 doing more than 190 million video streams in the first quarter of the year, which is up 90 percent as compared to Q1 of 2009 when this media vertical did 99 million video streams.

Newspaper sector video streams flat in 2009, but signal growth ahead for 2010:

 As a category, newspaper publishers did nearly 136 million video streams in Q1 of 2010, a similar volume compared to Q1 in 2009.
 Newspaper publishers had only one quarter of stream growth in 2009, but have grown overall by five percent from Q4 of 2009 and Q1 of 2010.


1Q10 Online Video report -

Read the full report here. (PDF)

******
New numbers: Online video makes big gains
By Regina McCombs (Poynter.org)

A recent batch of new research may provide some fresh hope for those who've been discouraged about news video. While the news is best, by far, for broadcast outlets, growth in audience should be good news for all video producers.

New numbers from Brightcove and TubeMogul look promising. Broadcasters who stream from Brightcove have seen a 74 percent increase in traffic the first quarter of this year, while they've posted only 10 percent more material than in the first quarter last year.

Web-only brands do even better, with a startling 300 percent growth in views. Newspaper videos were up 37 percent from the same period last year. Broadcasters get the best news in length of time watched, with users spending an average of 2:53 watching video, compared to 1:41 average time watched at newspaper sites. It's a bit of apples and oranges, however, since the broadcast material includes a lot of much longer non-news content. Newspaper sites had a slight edge in completion of videos, at 41 percent of viewers finishing, compared to 38 percent for broadcasters.

Read more here.

******
Broadcast TV and Web Media Sites Winning in Online Video
By Erick Schonfeld (TechCrunch.com)

You can hardly run into a media site these days that no longer includes online video (even we are getting ready to launch TechCrunch TV). But which kinds of media sites are getting the most views? In a joint report by Brightcove and Tubemogul, the non-YouTube sites seeing the most success with online video are those of the broadcast TV networks and Web-only media brands, followed by magazine sites and music labels. Newspaper sites are lagging when it comes to both total video views and growth....

Obviously, newspaper sites are having a real problem getting their audiences to watch videos. For every 2 billion videos they throw in front of them, only 136 million get viewed (6.8 percent). Whereas broadcast TV sites are getting 380 million views for every 670 million attempts (56.7 percent). Maybe that is because people go to newspaper sites for news and quick hits, and they go to TV sites to watch videos. But even magazine sites are seeing a 12.7 percent hit rate. Again, this could be a time commitment scenario. Most people go to news sites for quick facts and breaking news. But those people who do bother to watch videos on newspaper sites, are slightly more likely to watch them to the end more than on other types of sites. The completion rates for videos on newspaper sites are 41 percent, versus 39 percent for magazine sites, 38 percent for broadcast sites, and 29 percent for music label sites...

Read more here.

NPPA Judges: Why These Winning Videos Impressed Us

Poynter's Regina McCombs led an illuminating online chat with the judges of this year's National Press Photographers Association's Best of Photojournalism contest in the Web video and audio-slideshow categories. In addition to sharing highlights and trends, they discussed what qualities they looked for in winning entries.

(NOTE: We previously eavesdropped on the judges of the contest's TV News Video category, whose winners are being added each day this week to the KobreGuide homepage.)

This year's contest judges include:

* Phaedra Singelis, MSNBC supervising producer
* Mike Stocker, South Florida Sun-Sentinel photojournalist
* Alexandra Garcia, Washington Post video and multimedia journalist
* Vidisha Priyanka, Tampa Bay Online audience editor
* Theresa Collington, WTSP Executive producer for online
* John Kaplan, University of Florida visual journalism professor
* Jack Rowland, NPPA contest coordinator

You can read their online text comments from this year's contest by category here.

Here is an edited transcript of their post-judging conversation, which we've cleaned up a bit, while retaining the "raw" aura of the online chatroom:

12:59 Regina McCombs: First off, let's talk about what really impressed you this year. What were some highlights for you in the entries?

1:01 Phaedra Singelis: We were very impressed by the level of professionalism in some of the student submitted work.

1:01 Alexandra Garcia: "Waiting to Die" really showed that a simple execution can be the most effective. Gorgeous, inspiring photography with an touching, humorous interview with incredible audio quality. Simple and fantastic.

1:02 Regina McCombs: The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill took the best use of the Web category. What prompted that choice?

1:05 theresa: Flawless technical execution, great storytelling, strong usablilty...

1:05 Mike Stocker: The overall quality of their work continued to stand out as we went through all of the entries. They took chances, were concise in their work and above all, told interesting stories.

1:06 Ellyn Angelotti, Poynter: "Powering a Nation" (pictured) was one reason UNC won:

1:06 theresa: Their site and segments are clearly produced with usability in mind...

1:07 theresa: Clear navigation and usability in their digital products that made it simple for the site visitor to consume their content truly impressed me...

1:08 Alexandra Garcia: Powering a Nation really impressed us. We felt like, in so many of their pieces, UNC was pushing the envelope in all areas of the multimedia. From video stories to profiles to compelling video to creative graphics, we felt like that site was both deep and well-edited, which made it easy to navigate.

1:08 Phaedra Singelis: Their piece on mountaintop mining "Battle for the Mountains" was very strong. We liked it nearly as much as the piece on the same subject that ultimately won 1st place. It had good energy and covered lots of different point of views.

1:08 theresa: UNC is leading the way with their use visual graphics and interactivity in a technically sound application...

WHAT WERE THE MOST MEMORABLE PIECES?

1:08 Regina McCombs: Anything specific you'll take back with you from the contest in general?

1:10 theresa: Waiting to Die will stay with me. They really used amazing photography coupled with artful, subdued storytelling that suited the medium.

1:10 Phaedra Singelis: I was really impressed by the idea of telling the economy story through the eyes of a postal carrier in "Carrier of the Economy"

1:11 Alexandra Garcia: I also thought some of the story ideas were quite creative. As I mentioned above, our feature slideshow winner was a great reminder to keep it simple when it doesn't need to be complicated, while some of the UNC pieces inspired me to chose the right medium for the right story.

1:12 Phaedra Singelis: I also loved the visuals in "Roping the Wind." Not just mounting a camera on the hood of the vehicle, but showing the clouds moving and the shadows of the wind turbines on the field.

1:15 theresa: Also, Mexico at War is remarkable. Really - it should be the prototype for online storytelling for our industry. I plan to show that in our newsroom as an example of leveraging all digital assets to tell powerful stories online.

STILL A LONG WAY TO GO, A LOT TO LEARN

1:16 Mike Stocker: We had a very diverse group of judges from various still, tv, and web backgrounds that all brought different expectations to the various stories that we were judging. I think that as an industry we still have a long way to go in effectively communicating online. The best way I believe to do this is to work together with journalists from different backgrounds and learn from each other. We all have a lot to learn, and we also have a lot that we can share and learn from each other as well.

1:16 Phaedra Singelis: I also loved the visuals in Frozen Land, Forgotten People. It also had some nice nat sound which showed how to do audio in a quiet place.

1:16 Alexandra Garcia: Also, for me "A Family Kocktail" was an inspiring portrait--it reminded me: don't just scratch the surface of a character, especially with such a fascinating person. Go deeper in the interview.

1:17 Mike Stocker: We need to surprise and hook our audience much quicker online.

1:18 [Comment From Kenny Irby : ]
Mike, speaking of diversity were there any new organizations for example of ethnic media outlets entered in the competition.

1:18 Phaedra Singelis: "1 corner, 3 places to buy Starbucks" made us all chuckle. It was a great example of how to edit to make a story really sing.

1:18 Alexandra Garcia: I second what Mike Stocker said above. Collaborating with judges with very diverse backgrounds was a great reminder to get different perspectives on your stories.

1:19 Mike Stocker: A lot of the winners such as "A Family Kocktail" had that surprise factor that worked so well.

EMPHASIS ON VISUALS OR STORY?

1:20 [Comment From Craig Duff (TIME) : ]
I'd be interested in hearing what the panelists/judges were looking for as they viewed the entries in video journalism. Since this is a contest created by the NPPA, was there an emphasis on the quality of the shooting? Or were you looking at the overall impact -- visual elements, story, characters, writing, etc. -- of a piece?

1:21 theresa: @Craig - yes photography was truly at the center of this contest, specifically how it related to online storytelling. Check out 5 Dollar Cover.

1:21 Regina McCombs: To answer Kenny's question, there were no specific ethnic media outlets that entered, although there was some good coverage of ethnic communities. I'd love to encourage ethnic media to enter -- the publication size categories make it possible to compete.

1:22 theresa: @Craig 5 Dollar Cover is a great example of using some really rich photography to tell a very personal story. Also - audio was really important. The natural sound and the interviews were really vital to this as our choice.

1:23 Mike Stocker: Kenny, there was some great work being done by some indivdual journalists in Mexico, and the judges loved the piece done by elpais.com

1:23 Alexandra Garcia: @Craig, I think all the judges can agree that we were looking for story. Of course, quality visuals were at the top of our list, but we came across many entries that had beautiful images, but the editing and story of the piece didn't hold up to the images.

1:23 Regina McCombs: There were a number of international entries that were exciting. El Pais won third for multimedia packages, and we saw great work out of Mexico, South America and Scandinavia.

1:23 Jack Rowland: @ Craig - The contest rules were removed from the site once the contest closed. You can see them at http://bop.nppa.org/2010/web_sites/rules/ to read the descriptions for each category.

1:24 Phaedra Singelis: @Craig - I think we judged video the same way we judged all the other categories. When we couldn't decide between two pieces, we weighed the visuals more heavily. Overall, we felt we could really benefit from learning more about script writing from our TV friends.

WHY NO FIRST PRIZES IN SOME CATEGORIES?

1:25 [Comment From Colin Mulvany : ]
In the news video category, you didn't award first thru third. I was surprised by that. A lot of newspapers are doing spot news video. What was the weaknesses that you saw, and what can producers do better?

1:26 Regina McCombs: A number of other categories did not have a first place winner. In all these cases, there was a lot of discussion in the room about those decisions. Judges, can you comment on why you made those choices?

1:27 theresa: @Colin - this was a real struggle for us. Many were full of technical errors and ignored the basic principles of photojournalism. We saw lots of evidence of urgency, however we really couldn't award anything that had technical or fundamental errors.

1:28 Ellyn Angelotti, Poynter: Watch and see the judges comments on "Vigil for Teen Crash Victim"

1:28 Alexandra Garcia: We also saw some really great video work entered in the multimedia project category, but those individual pieces weren't entered in the video category, where they would have placed.

1:28 theresa: @Colin your piece was thoughtful and had some great moments in it

1:31 Phaedra Singelis: @Colin - we wouldn't feel comfortable awarding an out-of-focus or off-color still image, and we felt many of the pieces entered didn't meet a baseline standard. We wanted to set the bar for a national contest where we felt competent visuals, audio and storytelling were met.

1:31 theresa: @Colin - with respect to spot news, again, hustle is important but becomes irrelevant if the piece is poorly edited, or out of focus or shaky. The basics still need to be covered - like using a tripod, white balance, etc and while we saw hustle, we didn't see anything that really did a good job while adhering to the things we know to be important...

1:31 Mike Stocker: Colin, The judges were not only surprised, but it was also a little depressing to see some of the basic components missing from the quality of a lot of the videos produced. Education, training and technical proficiency were sorely needed in a majority of the work we saw in those categories. I think we need to work harder, and take some cues from our tv friends that know how to produce successful video stories.

1:32 theresa: @Colin there's a great opportunity here for next year - someone can truly own this category...

WILL VIDEO STORYTELLING APPEAR ON MORE PLATFORMS?

1:32 [Comment From Adam Wisneski : ]
does anyone see this type of content (audio slideshows and non-traditional news video) gaining more attention with the rise of television through broadband connection? For example, would a family sit down and watch a mediastorm piece while they eat dinner?

1:34 Regina McCombs: Adam, I think it's going to be fascinating to see what happens with mobile devices -- phones and tablets -- and see how it changes consumption of multimedia, especially if we can find ways to let people save and view later. There's a lot of potential there.

1:34 Mike Stocker: Adam, that's a good question. I think if the story telling is there, and the viewers have access to something that interests them like some of the top work we saw, than yes, they will watch it.

1:35 [Comment From Kenny Irby : ]
Judges, informed by this judging experience, what are your thoughts about excellence in blended multimedia storytelling? Are there clear guidelines that you would suggest for benchmarking web storytelling. Be specific!

1:36 theresa: @Kenny - yes!!! There was some stellar work here that really sets the bar for excellent multimedia storytelling. Check out this from the St. Pete Times on Real Florida. Great example here of a photojournalist crossing over into video.

1:37 Alexandra Garcia: @Kenny, I'd encourage people to be more judicious about when and how to incorporate stills into a video piece. It can be done well, but we saw far too many pieces that had stills that seemed "thrown in" for the sake of blending the two.

1:38 Mike Stocker: Kenny, multimedia can not be an afterthought. I think more planning needs to take place at the beginning of a project or story so that the story teller has a clear path, and doesn't get stumbled up by trying to piece components together at the end of a project that don't necessarily fit together.

1:38 Phaedra Singelis: @Kenny - I think the Ted Kennedy piece from the Boston Globe was a great example of blended storytelling on the web. They used video, still, text, etc. and it was well organized and had great depth as well.

1:39 [Comment From Peter Huoppi : ]
Are there plans to expand the number of video categories? It seems like in this contest and in others like the monthly multimedia contests, long-term projects win out over shorter-form daily work. Or is the medium still too young to have enough entries in expanded categories (more similar to the still categories)?

1:39 Jack Rowland: @ Peter - The advent of video-capable digital SLRs has created an increase in slideshows with small amounts of video. These currently cannot be entered in the audio slideshow category so must be entered in video. I think we need to find away to create categories that can better embrace these types of visual stories to acknowledge the way people are developing their skills.

1:40 Phaedra Singelis: @Peter - I hope that some day we wrap all video categories into the TV contest.

1:40 [Comment From Craig Herndon : ]
Doesn't the introduction of mobile devices in this discussion, fly-in-the-face of the quality issues, a la the video category?

1:40 Regina McCombs: I'm talking about distributing content via mobile, not gathering via mobile devices, but that raises the question of best gear available, how that affects quality, all those things...

ONE PIECE OF ADVICE FOR NEXT YEAR'S ENTRANTS?

1:41 Regina McCombs: Judges, what is one piece of advice you'd give to people entering next year?

1:41 Phaedra Singelis: Edit tighter!

1:42 Jack Rowland: Enter the right category.

1:42 Mike Stocker: Edit, edit edit

1:42 Phaedra Singelis: Take a script writing class.

1:42 theresa: @Regina - pay attention to the details and the basics, especially with breaking news video.

1:42 Jack Rowland: Put the video camera on a tripod

1:43 Jack Rowland: Get the microphone close!

1:43 Alexandra Garcia: I'd also say that the DSLR video is gorgeous but gorgeous video still needs to have a story or a narrative.

1:43 theresa: @Regina - also, you may want to have a separate web page to post your entries on. We had a whole lot of broken links or pages that had moved. We did our best with Google - but in some instances, things were lost. Put it on a page you have control over.

1:43 Alexandra Garcia: Show your work to a colleague, to a friend, to a family member before your publish. Does it make sense and do they get bored?

1:44 Phaedra Singelis: Use a tripod. Color correct. Check your audio levels. The basics first. Then make the first 30 secs really great. Surprise me.

1:44 Alexandra Garcia: Don't use music as a crutch.

1:44 theresa: @Regina make sure audio is as important and as thought out as your video.

1:45 [Comment From Cliff Cheney : ]
@Phaedra Singelis - Why would you want video judged with TV stories? Do you think they would fare well against more traditional TV story formats?

1:45 Mike Stocker: Have a hook, and grab the viewers attention. Story telling is the bottom line. Find characters and tell their stories

1:48 Jack Rowland: I think we all should be working toward taking the best of what visual journalists do and using those things to create new forms of visual storytelling that are better than what we've done before. It's still about the story, not the gear and the way the story is told.

1:48 Phaedra Singelis: @Clff - I don't think the audience knows the difference between TV video and web video. Our site msnbc.com has both. We shouldn't be producing them differently based on platform in 2010. Good story telling with video is good story telling.

1:48 theresa: Don't give it all away at the top of your video stories. The 'inverted pyramid' doesn't work very well in video stories - start your video story with good nats, introduce a character and maybe offer the viewer a surprise or a twist.

1:49 [Comment From Craig Herndon : ]
@ Regina- Thanks for the clarification. I guess on the receiving end concerns about impact on screens smaller than an iPad are an issue. Did you guys have any back room cross talk about smaller interface delivery?

1:49 Mike Stocker: Phaedra, I think that journalists that are producing video online should take a look at some of the TV winners.

1:49 Regina McCombs: A little bit, but we'll probably have to deliberate about that more for next year's contest. Multimedia is always changing!

FINAL THOUGHTS?

1:49 Regina McCombs: Any final thoughts, judges?

1:52 Phaedra Singelis: There was some really teriffic work. I was happy to see less work suffering from the "My name is.... " intro and getting quicker to the great sound bite. Also, one other note: keep text to a minimum. Never while someone is talking and make it legible if they are watching it on a small screen.

1:54 [Comment From Guest : ]
How are you guys defining multimedia? If it's strictly video it's not multimedia

1:54 [Comment From Cliff Cheney : ]
The web affords a freedom to experiment with new styles and aesthetics that might not be appropriate for a site like MSNBC. Would you want all video stories to be judged as if they could be consumed by mainstream media and exclude those that don't fit?

1:55 theresa: @Cliff - check this out: http://www.dhirajsingh.com/11.htm

1:55 Alexandra Garcia: @Ellyn, We saw some great work and many categories that could have used better work. In this uncertain time in our industry, I hope we can all stay inspired to attempt to live up to that great work and to submit even better work next year--and continue to push the storytelling envelope.

1:55 Phaedra Singelis: @Cliff - We're all for experimentation!

1:56 Regina McCombs: @guest: The multimedia categories were not won by anyone who only had video. The judges felt there had to be multiple story forms to place in those categories.

1:56 theresa: @Cliff that's an example of a well told, brilliantly executed story that's pretty non-traditional. After looking at all of the entries - the good stories, that used the medium to support and enhance storytelling were the clear winners. Some experimental formatting is really exciting when it is well done.

1:57 Mike Stocker: Alexandra, I couldn't agree more, we need to stick together and try to continue to produce captivating stories.

1:59 Phaedra Singelis: Visual journalists are journalists first. Good story-telling, good reporting will make your stories stand out.

NPPA Awards: Eavesdropping on the Judges

Here are excerpts from some illuminating "chat room" comments by the judges for the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) Awards in the TV news video category, on the final day of judging (March 5). We've edited it a bit for clarity, but retained its raw, informal chat-room aura. They're discussing the winners of categories covering both TV newscasts and their Web counterparts, so note the similarities and differences between what they look for in those respective media ... and what common criteria they find in all high-quality visual journalism. (The Web-only video categories will be judged the week of March 21.)

You can find links to all the referenced award-winning videos below at the Poynter or NPPA websites. We'll be posting some of them in the weeks ahead on KobreGuide.com.

WHAT TRENDS DID YOU NOTICE THIS YEAR?

Ellyn Angelotti, Poynter: Welcome to today's Poynter live chat. We have just spent the entire week sequestered in rooms here at Poynter looking at hundreds of photojournalism and editing entries in the 2010 NPPA contest. Photo Judges, what trends did you notice in this year's contest?

3:00 ddelozier: In terms of trends that I saw in this years contest, with regards to web entries, I think there was a wide gap between what was recognized for excellence and the remaining entries. Many of the winning entries were of a very high quality, especially the winning feature entry "In the moment". These entries are clearly where photojournalists need to be moving. I think the quality of some of the entries is a positive sign of growth...it just needs to continue and see more depth of numbers.

3:01 Merry: Number wise, the entries were the same as last year. Lots of new names this year. I saw new markets that I haven't seen entered before. But on the other hand, there were lots of names missing from this year's competition

3:01 Guest: Regarding trends of winners - I can't say it's a trend, per se, but a universal truth - that the winners tended to: a) have a surprise "pivot point(s)" b) develop a sympathetic character through meaningful natural sound and moments and c) have clear beginnings, middles and ends.
As for trends.... the in-depth stories weren't truly in-depth.

3:03 Al Tompkins-Poynter: I was surprised that, given that so many stations have cut the length of stories, SO MANY of the entries this year were 2 minutes or longer. I don't know what to make of that. Do you?

WHAT SPECIFIC STORIES STOOD OUT?

3:03 Al Tompkins-Poynter: What specific stories stood out this year? Why did they work?

3:04 ddelozier: With regard to specific stories that stood out to me...I was extremely impressed with the Washington Post's "In the Moment: Witnessing Barack Obama's Historic Inauguration." In terms of pure eyes and composition...it was spectacular. It was also a great job of storytelling. The story was compelling, it was remarkably crafted and it told a complete story

3:04 Al Tompkins-Poynter: While judges answer that question let me remind all of you that ALL of the winners this year are posted on Poynter.org and NPPA.org. NPPA.org includes judge's specific comments about each category.

3:04 Merry: Steve Rhodes "Sincerely Mr.Stroup" was one that was memorable. It was about a teacher who writes birthday letters to every past student he has had. "The Tyler Project" by Jonathan Malat & Boyd Huppert was another great one. Boyd always makes me laugh or cry on his stories.

Crash for clunkers stood out because of the wow factor. Darren's 48 hour feature on the honor flight was a great example of taking the viewer on a journey through a story.

3:05 Peter Ross: The stories that come to mind immediately: "Dumptruck" "Dancin for Dominos" "Crash for Clunkers" and "The Tyler Project". The reasons, largely, were for their high energy throughout. "Tyler" was notable for its building on surprise after surprise, and overall humanity.

3:06 Ellyn Angelotti, Poynter: One more trend from another judge to share ...
I agree with Dave's comment on web videos. In the web category, as usual, there was an overall trend of natural sound pieces and chronological story telling. (Dawn to dusk, climbing from bottom to top, etc.) As a web journalist, I'd like to see more human interest stories take shape online.

3:06 Merry: Darren's entry was great beginning to end. You can tell he's always listening to the sound and anticipating the next shot. He finds great characters that make his stories.
I agree with Peter. "Tyler" was great, it just kept getting better/

2010 PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR: DARREN DURLACH

3:06 Al Tompkins-Poynter: Congratulations to Darren Durlach, the 2010 Photographer of the Year. Before we ask him some questions, judges, tell us what impressed you about Darren's work?

3:06 [Comment From Crystal Lauderdale : ]
C'Mon Son, my pick for Judge's Choice, was a stand-out to me (obviously!) Again, being a solo VJ and web journalist, I love seeing a spot news piece turned by a single photog in a short period of time that still maintains strong storytelling. (Nice, Darren!)

3:06 ddelozier: Darren is the whole package. He is a very gifted storyteller who has a great eye. But perhaps most importantly, his stories all consistently do the one thing every great story does: it makes you feel something.

3:07 Darren Durlach: Wow Thanks guys. It's truly an honor. There were so many amazing stories this year

3:07 Al Tompkins-Poynter: Darren, I was knocked out by the flood story -- Cmon Son. You were EVERYWHERE for that story, inside and outside. Tell us what was going through your mind
as you shot it.

3:08 Darren Durlach: Well I got really lucky :)

3:08 Al Tompkins-Poynter: I loved how you included the flood in the background as you shot interviews with people who were talking about it.

3:08 Peter Ross: As for the POY - there was such a consistent level of quality. Specifically - creative framing of pertinent bystanders saying interesting things that added layers to stories. There was a "newsy" feel, even to the feature stories. The "Cmon Son" story reveal of gushing water was one of the most impactful moments of the contest. He (and his reporters) have a good knack for knowing which people will provide meaningful reaction sound, and sticking with them to watch events develop through their eyes. He pays close attention to transition shots and sounds that help keep up strong pacing.

3:09 Darren Durlach: It was a slow day and some reporters were out that day so I was able to nat pack it. It wasnt hard to find pretty pictures and reaction

3:09 [Comment From Steve Fedoriska : ]
He shoots his general and spot news as well as his feature stories and even his features have a news value to them

3:09 [Comment From Jeramy Rosenberg : ]
Also particularly well edited, as shown by it's first place victory in the editing category

3:09 [Comment From Crystal Lauderdale : ]
Maybe you can tell us your approach for "C'Mon Son"? How long did it take you to shoot? What were you listening for? What was the biggest challenge?

3:10 Darren Durlach: The biggest challenge was getting to the frat boys. I had to get around the flood and jump over fences to get there

3:10 Darren Durlach: once i realized how great they were as characters I knew I had a good story

3:11 Merry: Not everyone would do that for a story

3:11 Darren Durlach: It was a lot of luck that day, My news director played it as the lead for the 5:30 and the 10 o clock news

3:11 [Comment From Steve Fedoriska : ]
Darren, I really got the sense you move around a lot on your shoots... how long do you wait in one place before you move on to the next spot?

3:12 ddelozier: That is in my opinion what separates Darren's work from others. He didn't rely on a big flood to make a great story. He found great characters to go with a big flood.

3:12 Darren Durlach: shoot and move, shoot and move

3:12 Darren Durlach: listen for 2 soundbytes and move on unless the character is worth getting into

3:12 Al Tompkins-Poynter: Bu the way, we were lucky to have Darren with us earlier this year at Poynter to teach at an NPPA Virtual Workshop. The whole event is on NewsU, "Six Essential Skills to Maximize Your Storytelling Process" https://www.newsu.org/courses/six-essential-skills-maximize-your-storytelling-pr

3:12 Peter Ross: Darren - how do you communicate with your reporter? On the way, during, after, etc. What are you telling them throughout the story process and do you approach a story with some specific angle options?

3:13 Darren Durlach: gotta constantly move. while i'm shooting in tv with one person I'm looking for other people out of the corner of my eye. my reporters and i constantly communicate.

3:13 Al Tompkins-Poynter: Darren that story was full of natural sound. How do you listen for sound?

3:14 Darren Durlach: When I get to spot news, the first thing i do is shoot anything that makes noise because that will be the first thing that goes away

3:15 [Comment From Curt Chandler PSU : ]
Darren -- How long do you keep the wireless on someone before you move to the next character?

3:16 Darren Durlach: it depends on what the person is giving me. ;if they are a soundbyte machine, and a character we plan to profile then I'll leave the mic on the person longer. If it just someone who adds color or reaction, i just listen for a soundbyte or two and move on

3:16 Darren Durlach: time is of the essence in spot and general news

3:17 Ellyn Angelotti, Poynter: Thanks, Darren for joining us. Any final thought or tips you'd like to share?

3:18 Darren Durlach: on c'mon son by the way my chief photographer was with me finding characters. We were on our way to pick up the live truck and heard it on the scanner, he didnt have his gear so was doing some field producing

3:18 [Comment From Curt Chandler PSU : ]
Yeah, congratulations Darren. A great package of stories from beginning to end.

3:18 [Comment From Steve Fedoriska : ]
congrats Darren your tape was very fun to watch.

3:18 Darren Durlach: Thanks guys

3:18 [Comment From Dave Wertheimer : ]
Darren truly has a gift as a storyteller and teacher. What separates him from other winners is his heart. This is something that cannot be taught. I has been an honor to get to know him at the NPPA Workshop.

WEB ENTRIES WERE MOST DIFFICULT TO JUDGE

3:18 Al Tompkins-Poynter: We have a question from a former POY, Tim Griffis, who is joining us online.

3:18 [Comment From Tim Griffis : ]
What were the most difficult entries to judge?

3:19 [Comment From Crystal Lauderdale : ]
The web entries were definitely the most difficult.

3:20 [Comment From Crystal Lauderdale : ]
The entries there weren't as technically strong as we had hoped to see, and several that had beautiful imagery had very weak storytelling.

3:21 Merry: The web entries are harder because the stories aren't always easy to find. But when you find them, some are definitely worth it

3:21 [Comment From Steve Fedoriska (judge) : ]
The web stories were very difficult to judge, some stood out but others needed work, but we didn't want to discourage growth in the industry by not awarding awards.

3:21 Peter Ross: I would say web as well - their style, quality, length and nearly everything else varied so much - and I struggled with what criteria, if any, should differ from the "traditional" TV entries

HOW IS A WEB STORY DIFFERENT FROM A TV STORY?

3:22 Al Tompkins-Poynter: What are you looking for in a winning web video entry? How is it different from a TV story?

3:23 [Comment From Steve Fedoriska (judge) : ]
It's not different from a TV story, good stories are good stories regardless if we view them on the web or a TV. I wouldn't judge a photo on a website any differently than a photo from a newspaper.

3:23 [Comment From Crystal Lauderdale : ]
I work primarily on the web, and I think one of the biggest problems is always length. Since we aren't constricted by air-time or print space, I think a lot goes without the tight editing that makes stories stronger.

3:24 Merry: Web stories are mainly different in the fact that they have no time constraints. That is good and bad. Not every story should by 1:30. And not every story should be 10 minutes either. We saw several stories that needed to end earlier than they did.

3:24 ddelozier: I was looking for storytelling and a strong eye. In reality, I wasn't looking for anything different than I was looking for in any other category. I saw some strong storytelling and some great eyes. I would hope and believe that will grow and we'll see more depth in the web categories.

3:24 [Comment From Crystal Lauderdale: ]
Besides that, they need the same thing that any good video needs - moments, character, reaction, heart. It's a different screen, but not a different craft completely.

3:24 Peter Ross: I think the web entries need to be shorter than what we saw, and not ignore the basic human challenge that is at the heart of award winning TV stories. Often what we saw were natural soundbite collages

3:25 [Comment From Steve Fedoriska (judge) : ]
There are people who work on web videos who do a great job and those are the ones we should all learn from.

SOLO VIDEOJOURNALISTS UNDER-REPRESENTED

3:25 Al Tompkins-Poynter: I want to pick up on a question from one of our readers, Michelle Michael. Once again, NPPA has a category for the increasing number of photojournalists who are working solo, as VJ's. In fact, two of our judges work as VJ's at least some of the time. Judges, how did that category go this year?

3:26 Merry: Another year of low numbers. Only 12 entries in this category. I know there are a lot of great SVJ's who should have entered this category.

3:27 [Comment From Steve Fedoriska (judge) : ]
Very impressed with some of the VJ work, it is nice to see people who can do two jobs at one time. Dave's stuff was great and if I remember right about half of the entries were finalist for the awards. i noticed some work from my home market not entered and I think they had stories that could have been fun to watch.

3:27 [Comment From Crystal Lauderdale : ]
I really like the solo VJ category. The only difference in treatment really is that we gave equal weight to photography and writing/reporting skills. A good solo VJ has to do both well!

3:28 Peter Ross: I was impressed by the editing skills demonstrated by the SVJ's. I noted only one or two SOY tapes contained entries from this category, an area we all know will grow as the industry continues contracting.

3:28 [Comment From Michelle Michael : ]
What would you like to see more of in the solo video category?

3:31 [Comment From Crystal Lauderdale : ]
Entries. :) But aside from that, just more strong storytelling and character building. Our top two videos both had great characters.

3:31 [Comment From Steve Fedoriska (judge) : ]
emotion.... Dave Delozier did a great job finding emotion and working with it with his writing and shooting. That is what set his work out from the rest.

3:31 Merry: More entries! There is solid story telling going on every day by SVJ's, we only got to see a handful of those stories.

JUDGE's CHOICE AWARDS FOR ALSO-RANS

3:31 [Comment From Guest : ]
Were there any stories that stood out while judging that didn't make it as a finalist into any of the categories?

3:31 Al Tompkins-Poynter: There is something called a "Judge's Choice" award which will be posted very soon. These are stories that judges found to be really interesting but may not have won.

3:33 Peter Ross: My "Judge's Choice" was a winner somewhere or another - "Dancin for Dominos" was just one of the most memorable stories of the week for me - great pacing, reactions, energy, and hilarious.

3:33 [Comment From Steve Fedoriska (judge) : ]
"crafting a contradiction" from KUSA stood out. I really enjoyed how it was shot and I thought it was a neat story.

3:33 [Comment From Crystal Lauderdale : ]
Yes. There were a few that we liked for one reason or another but that didn't have all the components of a winner. "Polk County Rockslide" had some amazing footage. "Fat Squirrels" made us chuckle.

3:33 Al Tompkins-Poynter: We have not mentioned the Reporter of the Year is once again Boyd Huppert of KARE 11. His work has been celebrated so often by NPPA--what did he do this year that surprised/delighted you?

3:34 [Comment From Steve Fedoriska (judge) : ]
my Judge's choice was a story from the war in Afghanistan. I have a high level of respect for storytellers who put there lives on the line to bring us the news.

3:35 [Comment From Steve Fedoriska (judge) : ]
Nothing Boyd does surprises me, he's been doing it so well for so long that I expect great things.

3:35 Merry: His stories always have great pacing, he doesn't give away the surprise too soon. I always say Boyd's stories will either make you laugh or cry. He gets to work with some talented photographers every day and it's always great to guess which one shot each story.

3:35 ddelozier: The winning entry for reporter stood out because of his ability to identify a very simple focus for each story and then he stuck to it. The writing blends with the natural sound or sound bites and it all weaves together to tell a simple story about people. I felt the runner-up in this category was extremely strong as well. Both write extremely well...but don't overwrite. Simple words for a simple and focused story.

3:35 Peter Ross: Same old Boyd - the gold standard - writing to the corners with words that enhance the video we're seeing, not replicating it. His humanity comes through in every line, great deal of empathy. And he always finds a way to include real facts, not just feelings. He is an American treasure.

3:37 [Comment From Crystal Lauderdale : ]
Boyd's tape ranged from the relatively basic "Economy in a Box" to the in-depth "Tyler's Project". In all of his pieces, there's a human element that I think anyone can connect to. Even if you haven't lost your job, you feel a connection to the recession. Even if you don't have a terminal illness, you can appreciate a simple dream like wanting to rebuild a classic car. They're just so easy to connect with and care about.

3:37 [Comment From Steve Fedoriska (judge) : ]
I think his biggest strength is how a story unfolds natural with each turn getting better and better

WHAT LESSONS DID YOU LEARN FROM 2010 CONTEST?

3:37 Al Tompkins-Poynter: Judges, what lessons do you take from the 2010 contest and how will it affect the way you shoot in 2010?

3:38 [Comment From Crystal Lauderdale : ]
Lesson from 2010 - I'd like to find a character for every story. Even if it's a simple daily turn-around. Characters = memorable.

3:38 ddelozier: My Judge's Choice was the Washington Post's feature: In the Moment: Witnessing Barack Obama's Historic Inauguration. I thought it was one of the best shot stories I saw all week and the images were all spectacular. It was an outstanding example of storytelling and should serve as a compass for everyone working in web or broadcast.

3:40 [Comment From Steve Fedoriska (judge) : ]
Great question Al! I am looking forward to getting back into some great habits the POY has. Moving around the scene, changing who has the mic, looking for the little reaction shots that can advance a story. Over all I just feel reenergized to get back on the street and shoot the way I use to. This has been a great week and I have taken a lot with me.

3:40 Peter Ross: The contest is an important reminder of why the basic tenets of storytelling don't change, no matter the year, and how "aiming for the heart", as Al would say is always the right direction.

3:40 ddelozier: I think the biggest thing I will take is the re-inforced idea that a great story is born from a big story. Great stories are born out of great characters and the development of them with great images. So the next time you get the assignment that sounds boring...think again.

FINAL THOUGHTS?

3:41 Al Tompkins-Poynter: Final thoughts from the judges?

3:44 ddelozier: There's a lot of great work being done out there in a time of change in this industry. Those that are doing the best work are those who focus positive energy on the things they can control and don't worry about the things they can't. What you can control is what you bring each day to the story that's in front of you. If you do that...the rest takes care of itself. Have fun...it's why you got into this business.

3:44 [Comment From Crystal Lauderdale : ]
Final thoughts: Technical quality should be a given - shot variety, steadiness, clean audio. For greatness go beyond that - character, moments, reaction, pacing.

3:44 [Comment From Steve Fedoriska (judge) : ]
Good work can still be done, you just have to work hard and think outside of the box. If my story is poorly done, I have no one to blame but myself.

3:45 [Comment From Curt Chandler PSU : ]
Thanks for the inspirational comments and the links to all this great video.

How Do You Correct Errors in Video Stories?

Craig Silverman is a Montreal-based journalist and author who specializes in mistakes.

Not his mistakes -- yours. And other journalists. More accurately (and we do want to be especially careful today), he writes a column, maintains a blog, and has even written an entire book about factual errors committed by reporters... and how to prevent them.

His book's eponymous Website, Regret The Error, "reports on media corrections, retractions, apologies, clarifications and trends regarding accuracy and honesty in the press. I aim to provide a non-partisan resource to serve both the press and the public; my overall goal is to help make news reporting more accurate and transparent."

All admirable, to be sure, but it got us wondering. The most difficult thing about correcting an error in a text story is eating humble pie. Technically speaking, it's easy enough to issue a correction or even an entire new story -- whether for print or online. (Web protocol is to fix the mistake, and then add a note indicating what was altered or amended, and why.) Whether it's a misspelling, misleading quote, misidentification, or any of the other myriad ways in which humans can mess up relaying information, composing the correction (and apology) may be tricky, but keyboarding and copying/pasting text is not.

However, what happens when there's an error in an online video story? Not as simple to fix! Depending on the nature of the gaffe, you probably have to yank it offline, and then... what? Excise the offending footage? Add explanatory chyron titles? Re-shoot new scenes or interviews? No matter what, re-editing a video is a lot more time-consuming and labor-intensive than re-editing a text story. Or should you just add a text correction next to the video? (But then what if that video is "shared" on Facebook, or embedded on another Website? The text Band-Aid won't accompany the flawed video.)

Hypothetically anything your camera "saw" should be "true." But we all know that footage can be edited to skew or alter reality, especially by juxtaposing scenes (deliberately or inadvertently) in a way that could force a viewer to draw a false cause-and-effect conclusion.

Plus, the subjects you interview can make mistakes, which may not be called to your attention until after the video is posted. Then what? Go back and re-conduct the interview? Replace the old one with the new one? And, if so, let the viewer know this is a corrected version?

Even the reporter's own voiceover narration can accidentally incorporate a wrong date or statistic. Should it then be re-written and re-recorded to the exact length of the audio track it needs to replace?

In short, given the enormous number of ways in which errors can creep into a video story, frankly we're amazed that, even after viewing thousands of non-fiction videos, we've never encountered a "video correction." Is it because they're all so perfect? Or because it's too much work to fix relatively minor errors, so they're just left in? Or because it's too much work to fix errors, and so the wayward video is just removed from the Website altogether? Or because the videos are fixed, and it's just not formally called to anybody's attention?

Given the proliferation of professional videojournalism, we'd like to hear some real-world stories about how mistakes are corrected in that medium. Additionally, let us know if your department or organization has established guidelines or protocols for dealing with video errors when they do arise.

LINKS:

* Craig Silverman's Website

* Regret the Error Website

* Regret the Error book

* Regret the Error column (Columbia Journalism Review)

* Regret the Error 'Accuracy Checklist' (pdf)

* Poynter interview with Craig Silverman

Tip of the cyberhat to Advancing the Story!

What Works For Online Videojournalism?

In the wake of the cheering New York Times report that online video ads are booming, Poynter's Regina McCombs offers a level-headed assessment of how well newspaper video is performing -- editorially and financially. Her conclusion? Don't Give Up on Online Video Yet.

It's a confusing time, because video has been heralded as the potential saviour of beleagured publishers -- with the sizzle of pre-roll advertising trumping the stodginess of conventional Web banner ads -- but once energized staffs have been running head-on into the harsh reality that video is more complex and expensive and labor intensive to produce than print stories. Consequently, faced with diminishing resources, some media outlets that were making inroads into this exciting new medium have now retreated and/or retrenched.

But all hope is not lost.

Combs asked industry practitioners: What's working and what's not working?

Predictably, the responses constituted a mixed bag.

While clearly there are video efforts that have failed or been abandoned, declaring it all a failure doesn't accurately reflect what's going on in the industry.

What does work: news shows. What doesn't work: news shows. What works: spot news. What doesn't work: spot news. What does work: feature pieces. What doesn't work -- you get the idea.

Of course, defining success is very slippery. A lot of traffic on one site may not be enough for another. Some places have very reliable numbers, others not so much. So for the purposes of this article, I'm not trying to define success, I'm letting each organization set their own definition of what makes video worthwhile.

All those who responded said, yes, absolutely, video works on their Web sites and is worth producing. The responses were passionate that it's much too soon to decide video's future -- that it deserves more time and effort. The responses were passionate that it's much too soon to decide video's future -- that it deserves more time and effort.

My question about what kinds of videos work best received fascinating -- and absolutely contradictory -- answers. Clearly, what works for one site does not necessarily work for others. But it's also clear there are many newspaper Web sites out there pleased with their video efforts and results.

Breaking news and sports seem to be the biggest traffic draws.

Features, however, take longer to produce -- which disincentivizes publishers from pursuing them, despite the fact that they have a longer shelf life.

Feature and documentary stories seem to be the problem children in videoland. Many complained that some of their most polished pieces consistently draw little traffic, to the huge disappointment of all involved.

And it's impossible to predict which features will lure eyeballs, adding to editors' frustration and growing resistance to allocating big resources to what might result in small rewards.

Long-planned and produced stories "almost always fail to resonate with a broad audience," complained one editor, who had no explanation.

But sometimes features actually do better, because they are more likely to be "shared" via social media (e.g. Twitter and Facebook).

Part of the problem, we suspect, can be the lack of presentation and organization of the videos themselves, making it impossible for audiences to find them -- and unenticing for them to explore them when they do. (That's why KobreGuide.com was created!)

Often the video stories are separate from the text stories they accompany, without a link from one to the other. Further, newspapers often do little to promote their best video efforts, erroneously believing that audiences will somehow discover them on their own.

Another significant trend: In an increasing number of markets, newspapers are teaming with similarly suffering local TV news broadcasters to co-produce packages that can be configured for both on-air and online consumption.

Though newspapers have a smaller news hole to fill, TV newscasters still have to fill the same number of minutes, and so the infusion of print reporters into their operations is a godsend for them. In exchange, newspapers enjoy the benefits of seasoned pros who are more comfortable in front of, and behind, a camera.

So it comes down to this: There is no magic formula to make video successful. It's as much about knowing your audience and responding to them as anything else. There is no one boyfriend who is perfect for everyone. Still, the folks I talked to had a number of suggestions about how to make a relationship with video work, which I'll write about in an upcoming article.

We look forward to reading that!

*****
Meanwhile, the Miami Herald's Chuck Fadely responded with his own perceptions on his Newspaper Video blog:

After spending a lot of time delving into our stats, I'm extremely optimistic about online video. Emphatically, our video is on a steady growth curve upwards.

Hard news and sports are the two big draws.

Event coverage of sports as well as studio shows about pro sports get good traffic. Some high school football game videos and some football studio shows will get 4,000-7,000 plays.

And now the bad news:

What doesn't work: 'soft' features of the sort that newspapers have covered for decades. It's depressing, but 'good news' - anything involving kids doing well, charity, overcoming adversity, or similar - gets almost no traffic.

Some other observations:

A relatively small percentage of our video traffic is generated from our front-page video player or from our video pages. Most of our video traffic comes from major news events on story page embedded players, by a margin of ten-to-one over other videos...

As far as what format the video takes, it seems to make no difference. The only thing that matters is the topic.

Shorter is usually better for completion, but some of our top videos with the highest completion rates have been eight minutes long.

We run high school football games shot by a scouting service that are filmed from a distant overhead position without audio and they get a lot of traffic. Some of our sports studio shows, all shot to broadcast standards, get a lot of traffic, while others don't.

One last thing: volume is important. Our total video traffic is impressive - the last two months we've had in the neighborhood of a half-million plays each month, which makes for a lot of time on site. A lot of that traffic comes from just a few videos, but the 'long tail' of having many, many videos on site accounts for the rest.

Bottom line: Journalists and journalism institutions should not be abandoning videojournalism, but rather running toward it with open embracing arms. While there are challenges and obstacles to be navigated, it is undeniably the future of our profession.

Poynter Assesses Future of Newspaper Video

On the occasion of last week's demise of 702.tv in Las Vegas, Poynter columnist Ken Sands surveys the relatively high cost and low quality of newspaper video efforts:

In discussions with a handful of video journalists, these themes have emerged:

* There's a market for good video, especially in big cities, but good video is too labor-intensive to be cost-effective.

* It's very easy to produce amateurish video, but difficult to sell advertising into it.

* As a result, video often is the first thing cut from downsizing newsrooms.

The question, amid all of the cuts in the newspaper industry, is who will be best-positioned to take advantage of money-making video opportunities if and when they emerge?

Read Sands' article... and share your thoughts.

Bookmark This: Journalism About Journalism

If you're looking for journalism about journalism, Alltop's "Journalism" page is your one-stop destination, with links to the top 5 daily stories at nearly 100 top online publications and blogs that cover every aspect of journalism.

From the Columbia Journalism Review to Editor & Publisher and Poynter, they're all here.

Mouse over each link, and an internal popup provides the first few sentences of what awaits at the destination, enabling you to better decide if it's worth clicking.

If that selection is still too overwhelming you can slim it down for your own use, by creating your own MyAlltop page. That, in fact, is Alltop's strength -- selectively aggregating quality content, and providing a self-controlled filter to prevent information overload.

MyAlltop enables you to create a “personal, online magazine rack” of your favorite websites and blogs. You can create a personal collection from over 32,000 information sources—if you’re interested in something, we probably have it covered.

You'll even get your own customized URL -- http://my.alltop.com/yournamehere -- that you can share with others.

We’ve subscribed to thousands of sources to provide “aggregation without aggravation.” To be clear, Alltop pages are starting points -- they are not destinations per se. Ultimately, our goal is to enhance your online reading by displaying stories from sources that you’re already visiting plus helping you discover sources that you didn’t know existed. In a nutshell, Alltop is an information filter to help you find your nuggets of gold.

If you're looking for the Web's best videojournalism, then of course KobreGuide is still your single best online destination.

Sign of the Times: AP Stylebook on iPhone

The AP Stylebook, a mainstay of newsrooms everywhere, is now an iPhone app.

Unlike most apps, it's not free or 99 cents. It's a whopping $28.99 (compared to the paper version, which is only $18.95).

Today's Poynter article notes that, though that's in the same price range as popular reference works apps, "given that newsrooms and journalists are being slammed by pay cuts, layoffs and furloughs, there's reason to wonder if they'll pay for such an expensive app."

The app features all of the more than 3,000 A to Z Stylebook entries. Similar to the AP Stylebook Web site, users can create their own customized listings if the AP does not have a particular style on something. In the future, the app will likely be more interactive and better integrated with the AP Stylebook's Web site.

LINKS:

AP PRESS RELEASE

AP STYLEBOOK on TWITTER

Poynter Seminar for Visual Journalists

For journalists who appreciate the need to work visuals into their storytelling vocabulary, Poynter is offering a course in Essentials for the Versatile Visual Journalist

Your newsroom is changing everyday. How can your skills as a visual journalist help you excel in print or online? In this hands-on seminar, we provide practical experience and insight to help develop your knowledge of multimedia tools and new story forms. Learn to identify your own strengths and gain a better understanding of how collaboration can enhance storytelling.

You'll learn:

* The best uses of audio, video, still image, informational graphics, interactivity and Web and print design

* How the right tools can facilitate better journalism

* Ways to develop your personal skills and interests toward the most focused career path

To apply, or for more info, go here, or contact seminars@poynter.org

Instructor: Sara Dickenson Quinn (pictured)

Seminar dates: 11/30 - 12/4

Application deadline: 10/19

Tuition: $995

NPPA Virtual Video Workshop at Poynter

The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) is conducting a "Virtual Video Workshop" on Sept. 19 at 10:15 a.m. (ET). It is hosted by the Poynter Institute.

Learn new video skills, improve your techniques and... join the winners of NPPA's Best of Photojournalism video contest in this innovative online workshop. You'll get detailed accounts on the creation of their videos. You'll learn their methods, listen to their insights, watch their work and ask them questions in this daylong online event.

Speakers will include:

* Darren Durlach, WBFF-TV in Baltimore, NPPA's 2009 Ernie Crisp Television News Photographer of the Year
* Boyd Huppert, KARE in Minneapolis, a three-time winner of the NPPA Special Award for Reporting
* Greg T. Johnson, WFAA-TV in Dallas, NPPA's 2009 Video Editor of the Year
* Pierre Katta, WashingtonPost.com, Emmy Award-winning video producer

If you can't attend the live event, or can't commit to the entire day, we'll have an archived replay available soon after the live workshop. Your registration for the live event will also give you access to the replay plus our bonus resources.

More info here.

More News University Webinars here.

NPPA Virtual Video Workshop: Learn From Winners

Why not learn from the best?

On Sept. 19, spend the day online -- at the National Press Photographers Association's Virtual Video Workshop, featuring winners of NPPA's Best of Photojournalism video contest.

You'll get detailed accounts on the creation of their videos. You'll learn their methods, listen to their insights, watch their work and ask them questions in this daylong online event.

Speakers include:

* Darren Durlach, WBFF-TV in Baltimore, NPPA's 2009 Ernie Crisp Television News Photographer of the Year;
* Travis Fox, The Washington Post, the recipient of multiple NPPA awards in the Web video categories;
* Boyd Huppert, KARE in Minneapolis, a three-time winner of the NPPA Special Award for Reporting;
* Greg T. Johnson, WFAA-TV in Dallas, NPPA's 2009 Video Editor of the Year

This event will be hosted by Poynter Institute faculty members Regina McCombs and Al Tompkins.

If you can't attend the live event (online or in person), or can't commit to the entire day, an archived replay will be available soon after the live workshop. Your registration for the live event will also give you access to the replay.

Tuition is $55, with discounts available.

More info here.

What Would You Pay to Access NYTimes.com?

The New York Times is surveying subscribers to determine if they'd be willing to pay $5 a month to access content on its NYTimes.com Website, which is currently free of charge. The newspaper is also testing a 50 percent discount scheme ($2.50/month) for those who retain their home-delivery print subscription.

Read reports from Bloomberg, Poynter, and Paid Content.

Our question: What if all online videojournalism and multimedia (and of course advertising) was offered free of charge, and you had to pay to access the rest of a newspaper's online content (text, images)?

What if newspapers invested sufficient resources to create topnotch video stories as an inducement to lure viewers through the front door, and then required them to pay to visit all the other rooms in the media castle? Videojournalism, after all, is their most customized (and least easily duplicated) editorial asset.

That would build a substantial audience for all those currently neglected and underappreciated video stories -- which, to our thinking, is the storytelling form that best maximizes the Web medium's strengths.

The Ethics of Mixing Music and Videojournalism

Regina McCombs, a Poynter Institute visual journalism instructor, has created a powerful illustration of how soundtracks can affect a video story -- illuminating the debate as to whether they have a proper place in videojournalism.

In her article, "See How Music Changes a Story," she shows three versions of the same video story, "Mom Goes to War" (featuring a pilot preparing for her second Iraq deployment and her young son). The first is with natural sound. The second adds a slow, somber keyboard track. The third features an upbeat guitar/percussion track. (Both scores are GarageBand loops -- demonstrating how easy and accessible it is for even someone with a tin ear to provide professional sounding music background.)

McCombs poses the all-important question: how do the alternate versions change the way you react to, and feel about, the story?

The ethics of adding music to a nonfiction video story has long intrigued us. Is objectivity compromised? Is reality warped? Are emotions being artificially manipulated? We've posed these questions previously. It seems to be a gray area: "60 Minutes" would never do it, but the New York Times has.

McCombs advice is to use it sparingly, not as a crutch. In her helpful guidelines, she proposes that "music should be used to enhance or further the narrative, not to compensate for incomplete reporting." Further, she notes that "music is not a universal language. A breathtaking aria to one person is grating noise to another." And she makes an excellent point by noting that the art of scoring is an esteemed professional pursuit that should not be undertaken by amateurs, no matter how simple the software.

McCombs has gone the extra mile and researched and provided a set of ethics policies regarding music in news stories that have been adopted by leading media institutions, including the New York Times, National Press Photographers Association, CBC, Radio-TV News Directors Association, and American Press Institute.

Amy O’Leary, a multimedia producer at The New York Times, offers an in-depth look at how that newspaper got past those issues to mix music and journalism in two notable video projects: “Choosing a President,” and “Choking on Growth."

(Full video and transcript on Harvard's Nieman Journalism Lab.)

O'Leary says she learned everything she knows about journalism soundtracks during her stint as a producer at radio's "This American Life," but acknowledges the difference between that show's subjective first-person perspective and the Times' quest for objectivity: "The Times has long traditions and standards that they’re trying to figure out how to apply to the new media landscape. Music is one of those tricky areas."

Also from Nieman Journalism Lab, these invaluable basic audio tips from O'Leary, including what equipment to use when conducting interviews, and the proper way to use it.