Online videos news stepping UP !

Is this a long-term trend or just a fad that will go away within time?

Source: Web Video Player

We cannot deny that online videos are used more and more for news coverage today.

Megan O’Neill talks about the prevalence of online videos used to cover news on media websites as opposed to the traditional way of consuming news: reading long articles (2011). Through a survey done by Douglas Simon, it has been reported that online media has now ‘officially become a video programming network’ (O’Neill 2011). Furthermore, this trend is seen as one that will continue to grow and increase (O’Neill 2011).

This situation is related to the topic on the rise of new forms of media publishing, or new media, as I have previously covered in a blog post. To recap, new media is defined as interactive forms of digital media including blogs and text messaging and yes, the use of online videos to cover news.

Based on the article, I have to agree that the online videos have become the dominant method to reporting and presenting news. I will further elaborate my thesis on the basis of the principle of multimedia news and the principle of web genre evolution and audiences’ expectations.

On the basis of the principle of multimedia news, Michael Malone from Broadcasting & Cable explains that there is an increase in newspaper companies practicing reporting news using online videos in due to the race to capitalize on the popularity of broadband video (Burn 2007). Also, online videos tend to be short and provide interaction between the news and the readers. As readers today have shorter attention span, this method of news reporting benefits them.

The principle of web genre evolution also aid in reasoning my thesis. Conforming to a society of digital media, Lars Erikson and Carina Ihlstrom wrote in their article that web news sites are evolving into ‘live news’ format or online videos, where news are reported as they occur (2000, p.9). However, this new form of news reporting might just be causing newspapers to step-down as online videos act faster by publishing ‘live’ news prior to the printed newspaper (2000, p.10). In terms of audience’s expectations, online video news reporting is more preferred today as the contemporary audience expects convenience and interaction when receiving news. With the use of online videos, the audience is given just that.

Source: Channels.com

Many are attracted to the format of online video news are the news are current and live.

So don’t be surprise if the traditional newspapers die out in the future.




Reference List:


Burn, D 2007, 'The Rise of Multimedia Reporting', AdPulp, viewed 29 October 2011, <http://www.adpulp.com/the_rise_of_mul/>.


Eriksen, L & Ihlstrom, C 2000, Evolution of the Wed News Genre: The Slow Move Beyond the Print Metaphor, media release, 33rd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, viewed 30 October 2011, <http://origin-www.computer.org/plugins/dl/pdf/proceedings/hicss/2000/0493/03/04933014.pdf?template=1&loginState=1&userData=anonymous-IP%253A%253AAddress%253A%2B%2B60.254.175.23%252C%2B%255B140.98.196.191%252C%2B%2B60.254.175.23%252C%2B203.176.151.253%252C%2B127.0.0.1%255D>.


O'Neill, M 2011, '85% Of Media Websites Now Use Online Video To Cover News', Social Times, viewed 29 October 2011, <http://socialtimes.com/85-of-media-websites-now-use-online-video-to-cover-news_b60505>.