Comments on: Written content is still my favorite online

By: Newspapers websites lack for love; you can help

Newspapers websites lack for love; you can help — Fri, 09 May 2008 00:46:00 +0000

[...] we ought to be more direct on the Web. The Journalist Iconoclast is dead-on when he notes that the written report on many newspaper websites is often bloated and [...]

By: The Journalism Iconoclast » I do watch video online, just not newspaper video

Sun, 04 May 2008 18:23:16 +0000

[...] About Home The Pat Thornton Files « Written content is still my favorite online [...]

By: pat

pat — Sun, 04 May 2008 18:13:05 +0000

@Alex,

I’m going to try to find some studies that look at this. I think video has to be viewed as a tool in our bags as reporters, not the main tool. A lot of newspapers are putting too much time and energy into video and not enough into just making a more relevant Web product.

I know I listen to podcasts, and I’m not alone. I think the average newspaper, however, does podcasting pretty poorly. I wrote a post awhile back where I describe podcasts that work.

@Hartnett.

Excellent point. If I don’t feel lazy later today, I might edit my post.

The figures are tangential to my post at best. It would be better if I could find a study documenting what people like to view online as well (comparing video to written to audio to Flash to database to etc). I suspect people enjoy viewing newspaper video less than newspapers want to believe. Whether that is an indictment of video or newspaper video remains to be seen.

I do watch a lot of video on the Web at places like Hulu and YouTube. Outside of CNN.com, I almost never watch journalism-related video on the Web.

By: William M. Hartnett

William M. Hartnett — Sun, 04 May 2008 17:13:17 +0000

It’s incidental to your point, but as I mentioned at Jeff Jarvis’ post, there’s a difference between the number of newspapers sold and the number of times newspapers are read. The way I read that 57 million figure, it represents the number of Internet users who in 2006 said they had ever read blogs. I suspect the number of American who have read a newspaper at least once in their life would be well above the roughly 120 million people who still read one on a typical day. Not that any of that changes the obvious trends, but getting the math right is important, eh?

By: Alex Parker

Alex Parker — Sun, 04 May 2008 05:01:34 +0000

Um, forgot my point…some video is cool, but it is hard to figure out what a lot of stories are about. You’re right. You can get the gist of a print story in 10 seconds. Not always the case w/ video, which is why it needs to be either incredibly compelling or entertaining. Not gratuitous.

By: Alex Parker

Alex Parker — Sun, 04 May 2008 05:00:25 +0000

I wonder if any studies have been done on reader habit w/ regards to video. I think some video is cool. I really like the ones from the Chicago Tribune, and I’m getting better at making mine for the LJWorld, but I wonder who’s watching them…and if anyone listens to newspaper podcasts.