How newspapers can take advantage of citizen video

[Keyword: online journalism, citizen journalism, video]. There's a lengthy column at Editor & Publisher with some useful advice for any newspapers looking to jump on the latest bandwagon: user-generated videos of the YouTube variety. The writer suggests:

"1. Understand the benefits and drawbacks of the existing sites for viewers and advertisers alike.

"2. Make a conscious transition from being strictly content creators to become local communication facilitators.

"3. Create new channels to capture and share the best content from around the country and world (similar to the Associated Press or ESPN but for user-generated content).

"4. Integrate, don’t segregate. Video needs to be integrated directly into existing sections.

"5. Experiment. Create new sections and new services to test what types of videos
people want to share and whether they’ll pay to place or see them. "

There's plenty more advice including why newspapers have an advantage, how to make sure cream floats to the top, and even the idea of video comics.


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