(Editor’s Note: This is the first in a three-part series on local online news video. The first focuses on content. Tomorrow’s part two will explore design and usability and part three will take a look at advertising.)

Though local news sites have expanded their production of content and made great strides in technological advances on their video platforms, they haven’t exactly reached the next threshold or industry standard in online video. In many cases, this “standard” is being set by media giants like CNN and user-generated social media sites like YouTube. In fact, a recent study shows that watching online video is more popular than Facebook or Twitter. The trend is continuing in that direction and the time spent watching online video has increased as well. And with YouTube now getting into the local news business with its News Near You feature that will grab news clips from sources that are 100 miles from your computer’s IP address, local news organizations should worry.

Many of the local news sites are still experimenting and beginning to define the type of video content they would like to produce. Below are lessons learned from a thesis study that examined how 10 local news sites in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, USA market used online video. The conclusions made here, are also gathered through interviews of editors at the respective organizations (Note: Several did not want or could not appear for publication as a result of organizational policies). The full study can be found here (beware it is about 60 pages in length). Below are the sites studied. However, I will also note that the study did not include TheUpTake, which actually provided a lot of online video content for many of the sites below and has had led some great innovations in online video.

• Star Tribune (www.startribune.com) – Daily Metro Newspaper
• Pioneer Press (www.twincities.com) – Daily Metro Newspaper
• Minnpost (www.minnpost.com) – Online-only News Website
• The Minnesota Daily (www.mndaily.com) – College Newspaper, 4-days a week. (Disclosure: I have served as editor at this paper)
• WCCO (www.wcco.com) – Metro TV station
• KSTP (www.kstp.com) – Metro TV station
• KARE 11 (www.kare11.com) – Metro TV station
• FOX 9 (www.myfoxtwincities.com) – Metro TV station
• Minnesota Public Radio (www.mpr.org) – Public Radio station
• Minnesota Sun Newspapers (mnsun.com) – Community Newspapers (Most papers are weeklies).

Here’s what’s working in content:

1. Feature news: Evidence points to most local news sites using video to cover feature stories. That is mostly because these types of stories have visual elements that lend themselves well to video footage.
2. Breaking news: It comes in second place for most produced video and works well. Even if it is raw, most editors agree that breaking news footage can really complement a story and drive a lot of traffic. Videos of the Fargo floods were among the most popular for the Star Tribune, many of them shot as news unfolded. Expanding breaking news video coverage will become less challenging, as more reporters become trained in shooting video. Corey Anderson, online editor at Minnpost.com, said that the veteran reporters at the organization have embraced the possibilities of new media and how video can further enhance their stories. As the technology gets cheaper and economy gets better, Anderson said Minnpost hopes to include video cameras in the journalists reporting “tool kit”.
3. Local video: Local coverage may be the golden rule. Most of the editors noted that local coverage received a more significant amount of traffic for its local videos. It is what viewers want and expect, said Mike Durkin, senior Web producer for Fox 9.

Content news organizations could do without or needs improvement:

1. Limited national news: It’s not ideal, but because local news videos are in higher demand, national videos are not. At least not for these local news sites, or not to the extent that the investment is worth the gain. Local news organizations that currently pay for Associated Press content may want to invest that money into funding more local coverage from its reporters.
2. Talking-head: News organizations should use talking-head video sparingly, if at all. Because users on the Web are easily distracted, this type of video content does not work well.
3. Engaging, shorter pieces: In general, news organizations that are new to video, such as the Pioneer Press, will need to extensively train their videographers in shooting quality video. Beyond the quality, news organizations need to better adapt their video content to Web users who expect shorter and more engaging content. The attention span threshold that most agree on and studies have shown is roughly 3 minutes, though it is expanding with the trend toward watching online TV shows on Hulu, etc. Chris Clonts, Web editor at the Pioneer Press, said his staff aims for 2-minute videos, but is still working on transitioning to the shorter style. “We need to do a better job of picking our subjects, but that is the goal of the attention span we are going after,” Clonts said. Here is the breakdown of average video length based on the 10 most recent videos:

Content that needs more exploring:

1. User-generated content: It could build a strong sense of community on a website. Most of the editors expressed interest in expanding or implementing user-generated content. Durkin from Fox 9 said he thinks user-generated video will be the next big development in online video for many news sites. Currently, out of the list of 10 local sites, only four sites (Star Tribune, Pioneer Press, MPR and MN Sun Newspapers) include user-generated videos. However, the question is whether users will continue to use platforms such as YouTube, rather than going to a news site. Regardless of how successful the user-generated content becomes, it is a low-cost way for a news organization to increase content and traffic with almost no cost in staffing.
2. Live online video: It’s expected to be the next big step in online news video. Some TV stations, like KARE 11 and FOX 9, have done a good job in using live video, but expanding it will be the key in driving traffic through video viewership. Online users expect immediacy, something that online live video will provide. Live video could also increase online competition. For example, newspaper websites may now be able to compete with TV stations in covering live events through a Web stream. Also, live video could be the spark that makes “talking-head” video more interesting and relevant. Live video can bring webcasts, like the Star Tribune’s “News Break”, to life by providing immediacy and an element of surprise to the content.

Tomorrow’s piece will take a look at usability and design and will also include comments from John Daenzer, new media director from WCCO. What’s working for you? Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

The question is no longer just a hypothetical one. With increasing convergence between social media and traditional content, what is known as a traditional news website might not exist in the coming years.

Perhaps a revealing example is the creation of Facebook applications by a Seattle-based aggregator, NewsCloud, which received a grant from the Knight Foundation to study how young people receive their news through social networks.

With developer Jeff Reifman leading the way, NewsCloud has developed three applications (Hot Dish, Minnesota Daily and Seattle In:Site) that engage users in news content through linking to stories by providing a headline, photo and blurb. The applications also allow them to blog, post links themselves and much more – all while getting points for completing “challenges” that can be redeemed for prizes, which works as an incentive to stay engaged. Prizes include everything from t-shirts to tickets to a baseball game to a MacBook. Some of these challenges are online ones (sharing a story, commenting on content, blogging, etc.) and others are offline challenges (attend a marketing event, write a letter to the editor).

HotDish

Hot Dish was the first application that NewsCloud worked to create with Grist.org, a website that provides environmental news, commentary and advice. The stories posted are centered around climate change.

Minnesota Daily is an application that was created to feature news surrounding the University of Minnesota community, featuring news from the college newspaper’s website (MnDaily.com). (Disclosure: I worked as the editor in chief of the paper when the application was launched.) The interesting thing about this application is that not only does it look and feel like the newspaper’s actual site, it pulls several features directly from it, such as a feed of university-related Tweets and even some banner ads. The application is mostly used to connect students to MnDaily.com stories, but has the potential for much more.

Seattle In:Site functions for a similar purpose, but the content produced is by journalism students at University of Washington and the application features certain multimedia that can directly be watched on the Facebook app.

Replacing news sites?

It might not be these Facebook applications that replace news websites, but perhaps something similar. The point is: it’s all meshing together in one pot of media and it might not be far off before social media sites like Facebook become the primary publishing platform. Of course, this may take some time and some needed additions in content management for these platforms to be viable, but let’s use these Facebook applications as a starting point. The checklist:

• Content: We need original content, not just aggregation. Well, these Facebook applications already include ability for users to blog (again, with some needs for improvement, like offering rich text).
• Multimedia: Users can watch videos directly on the Seattle In:Site application. The Daily application features a Twitter feed, and the possibilities for more are endless.
• Subscription: Users can sign up for the application and follow it on their Facebook profile pages. It also includes the ability to ad the application as one of your tabs on the profile page. And of course there are always twitter feeds.
• Advertising: The site currently pulls ads from the other websites, but could also include original ads. Why not make some of the challenges sponsored? For example, a business would pay for you to post a challenge that involves going to their business (prizes could be sponsored too).
• Virality: Things spread like fire through social networking sites. You don’t have to worry about users coming to you. With the way Facebook is structured, things spread quite quickly through sharing. For example, if I am signed up for the application and do sort of interaction with it, it will show up on my profile page for my friends to see. They will see if I posted something, etc. The applications also allow the administrator to send notifications to its visitors and users. Also, users have the option to place an application badge onto their profile page for their friends to see. When I was editor at the Minnesota Daily, we received 15,000 visits from Facebook out of 257,000 in one month. That is a good start. And I can image many more people didn’t click through but only read the content actually provided on the application.

What’s next?

NewsCloud application source code is now open to college media that is interested in using the application and customizing it themselves, or media organizations can hire NewsCloud to manage the application for them.

The applications were used to gather data on how users were interacting with the content. Jeff Reifman said preliminary data is now available and the research being done by Christine Greenhow from the University of Minnesota will mostly be complete by the end of August. It will be interesting to see what the findings are. Using the information, the applications can be retooled to better attract users and learn how they interact with news most.