The Times did not attach the video they have for this story on the same page.
In my media critiques of The Seattle Times I have found very few things to complain about. Unfortunately that streak has to come to an end. When it comes to how the Times uses video, there is a lot to be desired. I'm not saying that they don't have good video, because they do. The problem is, there just isn't enough of it.
As one of the many young news consumers who get all of their news online, I'm used to having a lot of multimedia attached to he stories I am interested in. And not just video. I want graphs, image galleries and links to other stories. The Times is lacking in all of these areas. My favorite news sights – The Washington Post's Wonkblog and Buzzfeed's Politics section for politics, ESPN for sports – all excel in providing multimedia content to supplement their news coverage. The Times rarely attaches video to stories When they do, its not on the story page but linked to a separate page, illustrated perfectly in their thrift-shop fashion story. (On that note, it goes to show just how scarce video is on their sight if I'm reading a fashion story)
While it is frustrating not having the video or other multimedia available to supplement a story, I was never dissapointed in the video i did find. One video in particular, a profile on musician Eyvind King, is among the best I've seen of its kind. interesting and beautifully crafted, it tells a story in an interesting way. Of course, even it is not without faults. The problem lies in the lack of a written story to go with it. When I wanted to find out more on the main character, I had to go searching the internet off sight.
I have talked a lot about market trends on this blog before and how The Times is doing a good job of carving out a piece of the market for themselves to subsist in. I'm going to talk about market trends more now, but with the opposite theme. for any news organization to be successful in the internet age they are going to have to diversify their media presentation. This includes presenting the same written story with different forms of multimedia. It keeps readers interested, which keeps news sources relevant. The Times has been making all the right moves, except in this area.
I think The Times will get the message soon. They have to. As editors start to see the traffic statistics on their site and understand what these numbers mean, they will change. The Times is not very good. But the amazing thing is that they could be great with only a few small changes. Attach more video on the same page as stories, and attach stories to all produced video. Its a simple formula, and one that The Times needs to figure out.
As one of the many young news consumers who get all of their news online, I'm used to having a lot of multimedia attached to he stories I am interested in. And not just video. I want graphs, image galleries and links to other stories. The Times is lacking in all of these areas. My favorite news sights – The Washington Post's Wonkblog and Buzzfeed's Politics section for politics, ESPN for sports – all excel in providing multimedia content to supplement their news coverage. The Times rarely attaches video to stories When they do, its not on the story page but linked to a separate page, illustrated perfectly in their thrift-shop fashion story. (On that note, it goes to show just how scarce video is on their sight if I'm reading a fashion story)
While it is frustrating not having the video or other multimedia available to supplement a story, I was never dissapointed in the video i did find. One video in particular, a profile on musician Eyvind King, is among the best I've seen of its kind. interesting and beautifully crafted, it tells a story in an interesting way. Of course, even it is not without faults. The problem lies in the lack of a written story to go with it. When I wanted to find out more on the main character, I had to go searching the internet off sight.
I have talked a lot about market trends on this blog before and how The Times is doing a good job of carving out a piece of the market for themselves to subsist in. I'm going to talk about market trends more now, but with the opposite theme. for any news organization to be successful in the internet age they are going to have to diversify their media presentation. This includes presenting the same written story with different forms of multimedia. It keeps readers interested, which keeps news sources relevant. The Times has been making all the right moves, except in this area.
I think The Times will get the message soon. They have to. As editors start to see the traffic statistics on their site and understand what these numbers mean, they will change. The Times is not very good. But the amazing thing is that they could be great with only a few small changes. Attach more video on the same page as stories, and attach stories to all produced video. Its a simple formula, and one that The Times needs to figure out.
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