Quantity has a quality all of its own
In Quantity has a quality all of its ownv Davin McHenry writes:
I joined a Yahoo email group recently the focuses on newspaper video. The group seems to be mostly photography staffers hashing out how to add video to their websites. What struck me was how most folks seemed to be centered on buying high-end video equipment and expensive and complicated editing packages. The goal seems to bring documentary-quality video to newspapers, mostly in the hands of photographers-turned-videographers.And I just don’t see how that’s going to work.
A bit of disclosure here. At Bakersfield.com we’ve taken a decidedly low-fi approach to video. Ninety percent of our video is shot by reporters and 99 percent is shot with point and shoot , consumer-grade cameras. With our staff (~24 reporters) and our equipment (2-3 cameras) we’ve been able to shoot and edit 600+ videos this past year. We’re averaging about 700-800 views per day in recent months.
If we had taken the opposite approach and focused entirely on our photo staff I think the flow would have been significantly lower. I imagine we would have had, at best, 2-3 videos per week, rather than per day.
I don’t see how you build a daily audience with that kind of content flow. Especially given the nature of online video.
