Four sites that are leading digital news video into the future

par Margaret Looney
30 oct 2018 dans Social Media

Updated March 29, 2014, 2:30 p.m. EDT

Online news video is on the rise, but not all media are embracing the trend at the same pace.

Digitally native news startups without ties to traditional broadcasting platforms made some of the industry's boldest moves into news video last year, according to the Pew Research Center's latest State of the News Media report.

There are still many aspects of digital news video that the news industry must sort through this year - such as ad revenue, gathering user-generated content and targeting the right audience - but the report highlighted a few news organizations that are paving the path:

The Huffington Post is making waves with HuffPost Live, an online-only news channel that features eight hours of live-stream, casual chats daily between experts and HuffPo reporters. Raking in 2 million viewers each month and 13 million on-demand viewers, the experiment has been a successful one for other digitally native outlets to mirror.

Last year, The Texas Tribune embraced the startup spirit with its Kickstarter campaign asking for equipment to live-stream the state's gubernatorial race. With the nonprofit's audience clearly in favor of more online video, the outlet reached its fundraising goal of US$60,000 in only three weeks. It held its first live-streaming event in January, and now live streams events once or twice per week.

Multimedia company Vice Media, whose entertainment and sports news is hugely popular with younger audiences, continued to invest in news and video. In February, the site launched a beta news portal. The site plans to feature 50 posts a day on multiple topics. These will be a combination of live-streamed and produced packages made with newer tech like drones and Google Glass. Combine that potential with the 77 million monthly video views it already has, and it's sure to be a mover and a shaker in news video this year.

Legacy broadcaster NBC News is turning to video startups to gain a foothold in the digital news space, with recent investments in both NowThis News and Stringwire. In August 2013, NBC struck a deal to use Stringwire's eyewitness video, which users upload in real-time via mobile, for its breaking news footage. The footage can be uploaded directly to the NBC's editorial staff and featured on TV or the web. And with a small stake in micro-video company NowThis News, NBC is moving into the mobile video market as well, a smart place to be as mobile platforms are predicted to see staggering growth in video consumption.

Via Pew Research Center: State of the News Media 2014

IJNet Editorial Assistant Margaret Looney writes about the latest media trends, reporting tools and journalism resources.

Image CC-licensed on Flickr via Phil Nolan.