It’s a small world after all

Check out http://www.bhpioneer.com/livesports/

I think this guy’s group is on to something. I’ve worked with them a few times and it looks like they are ramping up nicely with local sports live streaming. A nice revenue opportunity. If we don’t do it, somebody else will. My understanding is that a fellow in south Florida is streaming live Internet video for 8 high schools and making some dinero. Local competition is already starting.

After talking with the group for 45 minutes today, I was so excited I went out and grabbed a couple domains: tvtucson.com and streamingtucson.com.

This group in SD has all the expertise for streaming local sport events( I have zero experience ). But I want to get smart and pick their brains. The concept is very appealing.

A sizable downside I see is who is going to attend the local sporting events and do the set up, shooting, and breakdown of video equipment? A local HS or college video class is one answer, or a local radio station. But as far as newspaper folks doing more work, we are all doing 3 or 5 jobs already. That seems the weakest point in the business plan to me.

Are there other hurdles to overcome? Like high schools wanting a piece of any revenue generated? Sure. But we need to get our feet wet and not let yet another opportunity slip away.

Contact Stewart Huntington if you wish a short demo:
huntington@bhpioneer.com

Set up cost for equipment – about $1,000 to $1,500, PC-based.

How many people know a cultural reference when they see one? How many just skip over it, if they do not recognize it?

Here’s an excerpt from an article in the NYT today about former Sen. John Edwards:

“For instance, after Mr. Young finagled a way to explain Ms. Hunter’s presence in Mr. Edwards’s hotel room in Florida and get her out of there unnoticed, he says, Mr. Edwards just looked at him blankly and said: “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Rielle wasn’t in Florida.” What was this: “Gaslight”? A trip to the Twilight Zone? An exercise in lawyerly deniability, to which Mr. Edwards apparently often resorted? A conversation being secretly recorded? Or something even scarier?”

Catch the “Gaslight” reference? Good for you if you did.

Go ahead, if you need to, look it up on Wikipedia.org or IMDB.com. Have fun. Sorry if you didn’t ‘get it.’   Ever heard of “Closing of the American Mind?” Good reading. Many thanks to Allan Bloom.

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Do Web readers value journalism enough to pay? – latimes.com – http://shar.es/aU7cR

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You may think your operation is too small to engage in some of these ideas. No business is too small.

The Marketing Capability: The Future is Digital

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rTzIAWI4Ms&feature=player_embedded

By Best Buy’s  CMO, Chief Marketing Officer

Let me quote from a speech that Lawrence Summers, then deputy Treasury secretary (and now the Obama administration’s top economist), gave in 1999. “If you ask why the American financial system succeeds,” he said, “at least my reading of the history would be that there is no innovation more important than that of generally accepted accounting principles: it means that every investor gets to see information presented on a comparable basis; that there is discipline on company managements in the way they report and monitor their activities.” And he went on to declare that there is “an ongoing process that really is what makes our capital market work and work as stably as it does.”

Originally in: Krugman, NYT

My only comment: Oops.

Community newspaper sites need to start putting videos on their Web sites in 2010.

We compete, even in small markets, with TV and radio Web sites. I think we should jump out of the print-only box and one-photo-every-10th-story box. We don’t want our TV and Radio and blog competition doing all the local video. Let’s jump into the video mix.

With a nod to those of you already doing regular videos, here are some thoughts.

We are not trying to compete with TV station quality video and editing at this point, so I would stay away from video editing as much as possible because it takes up too much time.

How can we do that?

The most important thing you can do for creating regular videos in a cost efficient manner is choosing what and how you decide to videograph. Stay away from high maintenance videos like one-on-one interviews and features. Instead, do simple stuff.

The easiest is “You are there” videos. For example, when the Red River overflowed last spring in North Dakota, the Wahpeton Daily News sent out a reporter and simply took video shots with no voiceover – the result was a compelling string of video segments comprised of policemen, firemen, cars stuck in water, and houses, roads, bridges underwater. No, or little, editing needed. Good stuff.

Edit with the camera. Think like a director and turn the camera on and off between segments. Don’t wave it around or talk over the audio unless you are prepared to say something relevant. Remember the audio won’t be that great unless you have the best equipment, so don’t rely on it.

Here are some suggested stories that could include “you are there” videos:

(Check all local events – look at your events calendar and local Chamber of Commerce)
Business openings
Parades
Car Shows
Sports events
School/college events
Government events
Weather-related
Music-related
Accidents
You get the idea….

When a story breaks or is suggested, one of your first thoughts should be, “Can I get some video for this?”

Check out the “you are there” videos that the Half Moon Bay Review is doing. A recent video was of an opening ceremony. The event participants did all the talking. Little or no editing needed: http://www.hmbreview.com/ (front page, right)

Create standard intro and ending segments. Keep It Simple by using a black background, white text and include the name or logo of your newspaper. Reuse these segments for each video, just change the headline and credits.

Create a Youtube.com channel for easy upload and display. Embed videos in stories and avoid bandwidth costs and associated problems.

Do you have the equipment you need? A perfectly adequate Flip Camera on Amazon is less than $150
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_5_5?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=flip+camera&sprefix=flip+

Virtually all PCs and Macs come with simple video editing software. Learn it. Use it.

For sites not doing video at all, I am suggesting one video a week so your staff can get their feet wet. I don’t think this will be a burden and will be a terrific training opportunity. I also think new reporters are versed in multimedia via their journalism education and will embrace it.

How about the topic of monetizing local video? It could be as easy as a small sponsorship button under each video. Perhaps a camera shop or video shop. Another idea: How about a simple overlay of text at the bottom of the actual video with a sponsor’s name?

Put your thinking cap on, I know you can do it!

In any case, your staff should have the basic equipment and expertise to create simple video. You may need it for an important upcoming event in your community or you may need it to meet your revenue budget. Be prepared.

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