He replied that company policy had been for several years not to place any video on YouTube. I think it gets at the principle idea that we want people to pay for the work we produce so they remember its value. As a company policy, not giving content away has taken some getting used to, but I more fully understand the motivation that drives it now.
In this article from American Journalism Review, the author explores why some television news stations put their video on YouTube, and what perceived benefit those stations are getting. In all honesty, it seems a bit disappointing.
If YouTube is giving you minimal amounts of exposure to your audience and not driving traffic to your site, what would be the point? I envision, should a newspaper choose to try posting to YouTube, it would be with the intent to drive more traffic our way.
I think the newspaper may have come up with something a tad bit innovative for our company. While trying to harvest the increased interest in Facebook and at the same time justify spending more on video equipment, the videographer broached the subject once more. "Can we put the videos on YouTube?"
The answer this time was hell, why not. A video of the college basketball coach's milestone win has 202 views. Before we got the new Web site, it was difficult to get anyone to watch our videos. Now the new Web site allows us to use Facebook to refer people back to our site to watch them. It appears to be working.
A new feature on the YouTube page is "News Near You." I don't see any of our videos there, but another regional paper has gone for it.
No comments:
Post a Comment