Here are, for your consideration, some anecdotes and observations from the past few weeks:
*****
While out on a story several weeks ago, I met a reporter for a local Patch.com site; Patch is a web-based news operation brought to you by the folks at AOL. This reporter had her cell phone out, prepared to use it as a video camera.
We talked briefly about online video, and she made the following statement:
“My editors tell me my video can’t be any longer than 15 seconds. Anything longer than that, and people won’t watch.”
*****
While out on a different story, I met a newspaper reporter who is investing his time in a video piece to put online. He has spent many days, often on weekends, investing in a mini-documentary that currently stands at ten minutes. He said he will likely finish the piece in the next few months.
The only problem? He cannot find anyone who wants to use it — or, more specifically, any media outlet that knows what to do with it.
*****
A non-industry friend and I were recently discussing my job, and she asked if I treated my stories differently depending on which show would use it. In other words, would I tell a story for the 11 pm news differently than I would tell that same story for our morning show?
I said, while I did make certain concessions and alterations for the show-specific audiences, I ultimately had to assume that the story would see its greatest interaction online. For the most part, web readers and viewers do not care about the show in which the story ran; they watch the story independently of that.