One of the big changes in the media has been a shift towards online video, particularly by newspapers, and this is emerging as a major battleground for audiences online.
Research by Neil Thurman and Ben Lupton of City University, London, showed that editors are keen to embrace new technologies such as video and see them as a part of the future of news.
Their research took the top paper award at the Online Journalism Symposium for Convergence Calls: Multimedia Storytelling At British News Websites (PDF).
The backdrop for this is a greater investment in video by established media outlets in the UK and whether putting more time and resources into video can revive the news business.
Their interviews with senior newspaper editors believe they can compete with broadcasters such as Sky and the BBC. Part of the reason for this is that newspaper editors say they are not held back by TV culture.
But Thurman and Lupton found was an acknowledgment by BBC News website editors that simply putting TV online didn’t add value to existing stories. Traditionally few people watched video in the pop-up player, so the BBC has shifted towards an embedded player.
In trials, the BBC found far more people watched video when it was an embedded Flash video on a story.
Thurman and Lupton talked about many deals with third party video providers had proved unsatisfactory, for example by providing mainly US video for a UK audience.
At the BBC, senior editors expect to see less video on the news website but a greater divergence between TV and online video. This is a welcome realisation by editors that broadcast and online are different mediums.
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