Talk with the Editor: Improving DHTV
It struck me recently that we should describe our video as Daily Herald TV.
Not that it's television. It's not, but then again with the Web, much of television isn't television any more either.
Even YouTube isn't YouVideo, and it's certainly not because the videos that populate it are shown on any kind of a picture tube. It's because the tube captures an experience, the relaxed experience of sitting in front of the TV.
Whatever the case, as much video as there is on the Internet these days, even as much as most of us shoot with our smart phones, the word is still somewhat pedantic. You're never quite sure what it is.
Check out our video? That sounds a bit more like an obligation than an invitation.
Tune in to Daily Herald TV. That sounds like something to watch. That suggests that you might get some relaxation out of the experience.
No matter what we call it, we want to improve our video.
With the growth of smart phones and tablets, it's only going to grow more important in the days, weeks, months and years ahead. We've got a talented group of photographers who've developed into a talented group of videographers, but we're still not satisfied with what we're doing with video.
We're not satisfied that we're doing enough of it. We're not satisfied that we're doing the right kinds of it. We're not satisfied with how we present it.
Gosh, as I've already said, I'm not even satisfied with how we are identifying it!
Two newsroom leaders who are our experts on digital platforms and on video — Teresa Schmedding, assistant managing editor for content systems, and Jeff Knox, senior director of photography — are co-chairing a team that intends to oversee some dramatic improvements in the coming weeks and months.
We hope this will include some of the video features we've recently introduced — The Suburbs This Weekend, Ask the Sports Writers and Suburbia's Got Talent, for example.
But we're also looking to improve the video we provide with day-to-day news coverage.
We also hope we can make the videos easier to find and to use.
Please give us a hand. How often do you watch video? Do you watch it on news sites? What kind of subject matter do you watch? What kind of limit do you put on a video's length before you give up on it? Do you watch more of it on smart phones or tablets? What innovative ideas do you have for our video?
Be a part of helping us build Daily Herald TV.
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