The use of audio and video on the websites of major news networks is abundant. The multimedia tools provide readers with additional insight into the stories, as well as stories that may have not been prominent enough to receive a written article. Among major networks, all of the websites offer a multitude of videos and slideshows.
Video stories on news sites are beneficial when a majority of the story is relayed by an eye witness. Instead of typing out a long quote from a person with an unrecognizable name and face, the interview is filmed, and viewers are able to see who is speaking, read body language and make judgments on the accuracy of the conveyance.
The emotional element of video is important. Viewers may be more impacted by a story after they witness it being told by an actual person, instead of just reading black and white text on the computer screen. By seeing the behaviors and emotions of the witness, the video has a greater impact, giving more depth to the story.
An interesting benefit of video stories is variety. Stories that exist solely as video clips can range from extraordinary to downright bizarre. A few examples from the MSNBC site include a video about the queen welcoming the pope in Scotland, an award-winning long-tongued dog, and a profile of a soldier who has been awarded the Medal of Honor.
If viewers are in a rush, a video may provide a quick summary of a story that would take longer to read from start to finish and fully comprehend.
A downfall of video stories is the possibility of bias. As with television broadcast news, through camera angles and word choice, anchormen and women can potentially sway the opinions of readers on a particular topic. The clips are kept short, just as the stories on television. Also similar to television, particular websites can slant politically to the left or the right, and video clips will reflect this. Fox News, a channel commonly thought of as conservative, and CNN, a more liberal station, will reflect their platforms on the web as well as the television.
Another slight negative of video stories is the placement of advertisements before each clip. Of course, the sites need to make money by allowing advertisers to buy space. Not allowing viewers to skip over ads means they are forced to watch them, which may or may not have an effect on their purchases. The rates of those who watch ads on television have rapidly declined with the addition of TiVo and DVR to the home, so viewers may leave to pour another cup of coffee during the ad before the video begins.
Video news stories can be found on the homepages of www.cnn.com, www.abcnews.go.com, and www.msnbc.msn.com. CNN has an option to choose “Must-watch Video” directly from the homepage, which provides a list of the “Editor’s Choice” for top videos. A “Video” tab at the top of the page takes the viewer to an entire page dedicated to video stores, broken down into a variety of categories, all conveniently organized on the left side of the page. ABC News has a similar setup on the website, with a tab devoted to video clips, again broken down into categories. MSNBC follows the same patterns.
The prominence of the clips on all the major news websites reflects the importance in the future of digital media.
I agree with what you said here about being able to add an emotional element to a story; I made the same point in my post. But I wonder if we're placing too much stress on what audio and visual clips can do for a story and what print cannot. I think a well written story can have the same emotional impact on people if it is done correctly. I think the use of multimedia in news is a great thing for the most part, but I don't think we, as journalists, should stop holding our writing to the same standards (as far as impact) as we do the visual and audio components of online stories.
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