Ethics and Regulation are Brilliant

Slacker!

2008-04-18T09:03:00.001-07:00

Just got my blog mark through, a respectable 67%. I got marked down for not actually blogging at all after we'd done our presentation :-s So there you go Sue, I told you it was me!!
(I bet Beth got 80% !)

EMTV

2008-03-13T16:25:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I am really going to town with this blogging malarky tonight. In fact, I am simultaneously watching Skins on Channel 4 while writing this blog and looking at other local internet TV stations. How's that for choice!
I came across this site, dire is not the word. An example of how local internet TV is just an advertising tool mainly. Even the links don't work! Enjoy.
http://www.emtv.tv/

2008-03-13T15:32:00.000-07:00

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/grandmother-89-seeks-power-via-internet-793163.html

Check out the link above. I wanted to be inspired by this old lady taking the world by storm with her blog, but alas, the world of the blog still eludes me.

My Views

2008-03-13T04:05:00.000-07:00

Well after looking at this topic I think that Internet Television is certainly the way to go. In an ever increasing industry where more and more radio stations are being created it is only sense that they will have to look to a larger market to survive.

Here in Cornwall the advertising that a business can gain is only limited due to not having any real major shops or industry. That said Internet Television opens you up to a global community and therefore the advertising/sponsorship a business can expect is much greater.

In man power terms I can see younger people doing very well out of the expansion of this industry. Universities/Colleges will qualify people to be multi tasked and the jobs will go to those who can put their hands to almost anything.

I think the future could be bright for Internet Television.

WHERE I STAND...

2008-03-11T17:56:00.000-07:00

This blog has enabled me to actively engage in the future of internet TV, but while I can feel the concept knocking at the door I’m uncertain as to when and how it will happen.

In carrying out our own surveys, interviewing those who know the business inside out, sampling the various internet channels available and talking to pioneers of the idea, I still stand divided on how it’s going to work and who is going to make it work and my main reservations do indeed lie with ethics and regulations.

Firstly there are no universal regulations for any forms of media to adhere to on the internet, and this calls into questions the ethics of the stories being written, even if written in good faith. In the press, television and radio worlds, words are heavily governed by laws protecting those being written about, and yet at the moment the internet remains an untamed wilderness where any form of content can survive.

Secondly I’m unsure whether I like the idea of internet TV. It’s a soul-less form of technology and is creating an even more fickle audience than ever before. There seems to be little or no loyalty to the majority of internet content. People follow what’s in vogue (YouTube), or simply move away if they don’t like what’s being published or think that someone else is managing their content better or at a much quicker pace.

I would also hate to lose the heritage of the local paper, but that’s more of a selfish reason, rather than an objective one. It’s where I had my first real taste of paid journalism - and I’m sure thousands of other journalists would agree with me on this. (Look at my earlier blog entitled West Midlands Pilot for the context of this comment).

Internet TV was such a huge topic to delve in to, and I’m still moving back and forth between supporting the idea and shying away. There are pros and cons in both corners. More jobs for broadcasters would be great, and I’m sure as the audience I would also like to have optimum choice for my viewing, but at the same time, do I want to watch things on the internet? And would I really be satisfied with putting all my faith in an unregulated internet site?

Ultimately despite the pros, cons and angst that previous pilots have caused within the press world, local internet TV is on its way. There will be a media corporation who break down these barriers and create a service which is supported by a large fan basis and respected by them too.

When this is going to happen I remain unsure about, but only then will we really be able to discuss where local internet TV can take the future of media, whether you’re behind the screen, on it or a blurring of the two.

OUR STATISTICS

2008-03-11T17:29:00.000-07:00

Here are the results of the survey we carried out about local internet TV in January 2008. We asked 100 people of varying ages and of both genders the questions below.

Unfortunatly we were unable to publish the graphs we created from the data due to technological difficulties.

What news programmes do people watch?
BBC National 28%
BBC Local 19%
ITV 13%
ITV Local 10%
Channel 4 News 12%
Channel 5 News 2%
Sky News 13%
Other 3%

Which radio programmes do people watch?
BBC National 42%
BBC Local 34%
Local Commercial 24%

Do you watch TV on the Internet?
Yes more than once a week 18%
Yes, less than once a week 14%
Rarely 24%
Never 44%

If not, why not?
The main programme provides enough information 43%
The internet is too slow 17%
Poor quality / poorer content than the TV 18%
I'm bad with technology 22%

Are you interested in watching news content on the internet? 18 and under 18-29 29-39 40-49 50-59 60+ Overall
Yes 25% 27% 14% 25% 10% 0% 18%
No 13% 40% 29% 0% 20% 67% 30%
Maybe in the future 50% 33% 29% 75% 60% 33% 44%
Not sure 13% 0% 28% 0% 10% 0% 8%

WEST MIDLANDS PILOT: THE SEQUEL

2008-03-11T17:18:00.000-07:00

Despite opposition from the local newspaper industry over local BBC internet news services, the uniquely funded corporation has fought back with a new idea; but the press world is not happy about it.

On the 28th January 2008 Press Gazette published a story entitled “Regional newspapers’ fury at BBC local web plan” about the BBC’s latest ambition to prodce a network of 60 ultra-local websites.

The proposed service will use text, audio and video news which could be navigated using a map and symbols for weather, travel, sport and others.

But it’s come against immediate opposition. Ian Davies of Archant publications saying the BBC is proposing things which the US and UK regional press have been building into their websites over the last couple of years.

He says: “This is not competition. This is BBC, full-bodied, unfair, damaging to existing emerging services, competition. It seems that attempted demolition is the sincerest form of flattery.”

It is still yet to be approved by the BBC Trust and to under-go public consultations (a bit like the survey we carried out in Falmouth for our presentation!) before anything happens.

CHECK OUT THE FULL ARTICLE AT:

http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=40081&c=1

THE WEST MIDLANDS PILOT

2008-03-11T17:01:00.000-07:00

In 2005 the BBC piloted the idea of local internet TV with the ‘West Midlands Pilot’.

The then Director-General Mark Thompson provided 5 regions with a news service which was specifically designed to serve individual cities and counties including Staffordshire and Warwickshire.

The initial idea was to make the service and information or reports as local as local radio was and work as a rolling interactive service.

There was also 10 minute chunks of information regularly available for viewers to download on demand from the internet, broadband TV or even on their mobile phones.

In his plans, DG Thompson said: “"We will also aim to use our viewers' own contributions in new ways, and one producer in each area will work exclusively on developing networks of local contributors and community correspondents."

It was hoped they could utilise the new breed of video journalists who could get into the community and work alongside the producers to create better partnerships and a more community-friendly television service.

But this pilot flopped and was pulled.

Although it sounded like a good idea on its own, once put out into the media world it came up against immediate opposition, especially from the local newspaper industry.

They felt the BBC would be encroaching on their territory, which was and still is getting smaller. It just about still exists because people do want to know what’s happening in their towns and villages and the local rag has always been the source of that information.

The papers are often run by families or written by journalists brought up in the town or who have some connection with it, and I think people were scared that the lifeless internet and intruding television cameras would steal away one of the final parts of quintessential English life.

Even though I’ve opted to go into broadcast journalism as a career I still love the local paper. The stories are not award winning and some of the pictures used are dubious, but at the same time that’s what local papers are about. Smooth corporations going in and running a slick operation wouldn’t mirror or truly represent what the local community is about.

Despite the progress in technology I think many journalists have a similar hankering for the preservation of the local paper and would prefer to maintain the local rag rather than hand over the audience to a flashy internet TV service.

After all, for most broadcasters, it’s where they began their career. The dank office at the Tavistock Times Gazette was where my aspirations began to be cultivated and I wouldn’t want other journalist-hopefuls to be denied that opportunity.

I guess I’m saying here that journalists do have ethics. Internet TV could provide a great source of jobs and opportunity, but I and I’m sure many others wouldn’t want that to cost the local rag.

THE PRESENTATION

2008-03-11T16:09:00.000-07:00

Overall the presentation went well, and everyone's hard work was evident.

Much of the presentation was focused upon Cornwall and how internet TV would effect this part of the country if broadcasters ventured into it.

We managed to interview several of the key newseditors in the South West on this topic and conducted our own local survey to learn what people really wanted.

While we thought this was interesting and relevent, it came under criticism from some of the audience, who felt we should conduct a wider survey across the country.

While this was a reasonabl comment to make, and something we may have considered on a longer project, think focusing entirely on Cornwall was a good idea to assess the possibility of internet TV.

As Tim Hubbard (BBC Radio Cornwall) noted in his interview, Cornwall would be one of the best places for internet TV to take off as tourism and second-home owners would be interested in learning about the county as well as there being lots of potential revenue.

The localising of our presentation through Cornwall, the comparison with Kent TV, and our in-depth look at local radio, I felt made the presentation realistic and demonstrated our interest in really researching whether internet TV would actually work or be used by the people.

However, I can also see that this presentation was that, a presentation, and not a sales pitch, and so our continual focus on the region may have been more tiresome than necessary.

Overall though I think we considered many of the angles that broadcasters must be angonising over when considering whether to invest time and money into internet TV.

H2O TV aims to ride the waves

2008-03-10T14:16:00.000-07:00

I came across H20 TV the other day and it is a great concept. H20 Claims to be the first Internet Television channel to be dedicated to water based content only. The company is based in Devon and they have alredy pulled off a major coup by gaining exclusive rights to footage of the Sony Free Diving World Championships.

In their manifesto they aim to cover a number of issues involving water including science, education, sport, business and leisure. Some programmes which are airing right now include a programe based on Mick Dawson's bid to row across the atlantic and a programme on diving to find remains of dinasours.

There are over one million qualified surfers in the UK and the site is hoping to pull in some of these people to help boost their viewing figures.

This site is well worth a look.

2008-03-09T12:06:00.000-07:00

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/organgrinder/2007/08/wholl_win_the_web_what_the_int.html
I was looking at Guardian website and found this article from last Summer. It raises a couple of interesting questions with regard to newspapers and internet tv. Namely that there will come a day when accessing a newspaper will be something internet driven and the actual paper won't be needed. I remember when I worked at The Financial Times five years ago and they were saying the same thing then. It hasn't happened. People still buy newspapers. People like to have a physical paper, to flick the pages over and have a coffee while doing the crossword. Note the comment about locally generated news being the first thing to "radically transform". Now that is something that we already see happening.
Take a look.

FOOTBALL FOCUS

2008-03-08T02:27:00.000-08:00

Premiership football clubs have already started creating their own local TV news relating to the sport and their club.

It provides fans with all the latest news on forthcoming matches, injuries, transfers and other team news, but it also has the power to control the output its dedicated fan base watches.

But does this not provide the football club with the opportunity to manipulate information for their own wants?

For example if a player has hit the headlines over unprofessional behaviour outside of the game, club bosses can order him to go on the channel and give an exclusive interview where he can express his sorrow and announce he is donating two weeks wages to a local charity.

How will this effect local news?

It will have a significant impact on local newspapers, for example Manchester Evening News has suffered from a lack of exclusives since MUTV went live in 2002 and it also brings into question the very nature of news; objectivity and impartiality.
Manchester United are very unlikely to broadcast something that shows the club in a negative light, irrespective of whether it is an essential element of the initial story.

There is, however, one glaring example of when using the clubs TV station as a forum for players to air their views backfired. In 2005 Roy Keane appeared on MUTV to discuss the clubs 4-1 away defeat to Middleborough. He took the opportunity to heavily criticise some of his team-mates performances. The views were deemed so damning that club bosses pulled the programme before it was transmitted. But the damage was done and the incident resulted in one of United’s greatest players leaving the club by mutual consent.

Following this incident manager Sir Alex Ferguson was reluctant to allow his players to air personal views on the clubs TV station and as this impacted on subscription figures over the next twelve months.

But, on the other hand as the success of MUTV and other stations including Liverpool’s LUTV and Chelsea’s Chelsea FC TV shows, there is a huge market out there and it’s a very good source of revenue for the clubs.

Arguably, football is the perfect base for internet TV to capitalise on fans seemingly unending loyalty and deep pockets. However, for those who don’t wear rose tinted glasses there is the worrying prospect that these stations are telling the fans what they want and expect to hear rather than portraying a true reflection of the beautiful game.

CHECK OUT

MUTV
www.mutv.com

LUFC
www.liverpoolfc.tv

CHELSEA FC TVwww.tv.chelseafc.com

CROYDON'S CRACK AT IT

2008-02-29T08:20:00.000-08:00

The Croydon Advertiser is a sight trying to merge paper news with other media platforms.

Quite obviously the sight does not have the money to provide journalists with flashy technology to create mini-films. Instead it provides what, I think, people want from a local sight - just enough information to know exactly what’s going on.

The sight has expanded the role of the photographer to create slide-shows with pictures and accompanying music. Lasting a couple of minutes the shows illustrate a local story such as final rehearsals of a school play.

Although the slide-shows are low budget and will never win awards they do what they set out to do by simply illustrating text.

They work because they are cheap, quick and put the audience in the story. But at the same time they are not the type of stories which would benefit from the effort which would go into making a visual piece for internet news.

With this in mind, will those news corporations thinking about creating local internet news, end up wasting their time and resources on stories which are best demonstrated by text and a still image?

If corporations sign up to internet news they are going to have to provide a regular service and meet deadlines. With this hanging over their heads they may make visual features simply for the sake of it and cause local news to become stilted.

CHECK OUT
www.thisiscroydontoday.co.uk

Chew Television

2008-02-26T12:15:00.000-08:00

Chew TV is an Internet Television service based in Cornwall. Funded by Government and media industry grants it aspires to give young people a chance to make their own films which will be posted on the site.

If you log on to the site you can currently watch films including Far from Home, a film which depicts life in Cornwall during World War 2. What impressed me was the high quality of the films on their, all made by 14-25 year olds.

The channel states that in the long term it will use advertising to help pay for the site, though there isn't to much of that on the site at present.

From time to time the channel offer bursaries to young people who come up with the best film ideas.

The channel claims that it is watched by industry professionals scouting for young talent. All in all this is a great site and well worth looking at!

Virgin Radio's video content

2008-02-14T00:14:00.000-08:00

I wrote to Virgin to ask about their video content online. Unfortunately the reply didn't reply until just now (too late for the presentation) but it's still interesting so I thought I'd publish it on the blog.

Thanks for getting in touch with Virgin Radio. Sorry we've taken so long to reply to your mail.

Video content on virginradio.co.uk is an area that's grown tremendously over the last year or so, and we are looking to build on this going forward.

Being a radio station where audio has traditionally been the sole medium on which to communicate with our audience, the web has opened up a whole new area to us that enables a brand like Virgin Radio to become an entertainment destination, using a variety of medium such as video.

Video on our website is a combination of promotional music videos (which we aquire through our relationships with the various record labels, or through 3rd party distributors such as YouTube), our own videos from things like live sessions, and we are also looking into video podcasting for some of our shows.

Promo videos do not cost us any money (but can be problematic in getting hold of!), but we have to cover the production costs of other filming that we commission. As a commercial business, we pay for this through a combination of sponsorship and on-site advertising.

As I say, video is something we're investing more time and resources in as time goes on. For example, we'll be spending some time this year in upgrading our video layer to be able to cope with larger-format videos, and looking into other potential short-form video offerings that compliment the radio station.

Hope these answer your questions.--

Anthony AbbottEditor, Virgin Radio Digital MediaVirgin Radio, No. 1 Golden Square, London W1F 9DJThe music we all love: http://www.virginradio.co.uk

Pirate FM Website

2008-02-11T07:31:00.000-08:00

Well as I said at the start no radio station in Cornwall currently uses internet television, as of yet anyway. I think Pirate FM's website is a huge improvment on Atlantics. I like the fact I can log on and read the top stories of the day that Pirate are running with.

The website also carrys a live internet feed of the radio station.

Visceral, quirky or violent...

2008-02-09T10:45:00.000-08:00

Here's an example of online video that is popular for all the reasons the BBC research said...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7230000/newsid_7235100/7235142.stm?bw=bb&mp=rm&news=1&bbcws=1

A man lived in a council flat for five years with a dead body decomposing on the sofa. This was in Bedminster in Bristol. Unbelievable!

Holmfirth Internet Television

2008-02-04T14:27:00.000-08:00

I came across this site a while ago before I visited a family friend who at the time lived in Holmfirth. The problem with most sites is that when you type in the towns name in you get a lot about Last of The Summer Wine, not too much about the town its self.

The site is funded by local businesses and is inteded to attract people to the area who are not just Summer Wine fans. Most of the videos focus on everyday Holmfirth life, including the switch on of the Christmas lights.

Other videos which have also found there way on to the site include a piece by the Tourist Information Centre and a video showing some of the beauty surrounding the village.

The businesses who help to fund the station are asked to part with just £150 per year. I am really impressed by this site and can see the business logic behind why it was created. Out of interest all videos on this site are also posted on Youtube. ,

The trouble with the internet...

2008-02-03T14:00:00.000-08:00

The problem with internet tv is that ultimately the pc/laptop/blackberry/etc is seen as an information tool and the TV a source of entertainment. The context of how people view their news is important and attitudes won't change for a while in this case if you ask me. People in general (even just from our survey of people in Falmouth last week) probably wouldn't go out of their way in the comfort of their own home to watch a news programme on the internet.
It all feels like too much hard work for the audience. Agree or disagree?

MORE ABOUT KENT

2008-01-31T01:02:00.000-08:00

The station was launched on September 21 2007 so is still a new idea.

The station aims to provide programmes under a series of channels which showcase the county's tourist attractions, through to how to find a residential home for an elderly relative parent.

The site states that: “At the heart of Kent TV lies its ambition to be a community channel, so individuals and local community groups can upload their own content onto Kent TV to highlight local issues.”

But the question of internet regulation remains a large concern.

KENT TV - It's all about Kent

2008-01-31T00:48:00.001-08:00

Kent TV (www.KentTV.com) is a 24 hour internet channel covering every aspect of news around Kent.

Launched by the City Council it provides short videos on local issues including the arts, education, and local government.

As far as it goes as a concept, it is probably the closest we have come to broadcasting local news on the internet. It reaches its target audience of those who have an association with Kent, and easy navigation around the sight means people can select the information they want, making individual news-gathering direct and easy.

If the aim of internet news is to instigate a sense of community, then Kent TV seems to achieve this, as every aspect of Kent life appears to be covered on the site.

However, the general concept of a news service is to provide objective information - can an internet channel maintained by a council be considered completely neutral? It is likely and understandable that Kent City Council leans on the service to promote their achievements rather than including articles which shows their management in any poor light.

The sight does employ a Board of Govenors to ensure impartiality, regularity and good value to the consumers but it’s interest will always default back to the City Council and what they are trying to achieve.

Ultimately, while Kent TV seems well regulated there is the concern that the channel lacks diversity and will always have a political leaning. This risks causing the information and freedom of the channel to become stilted, and highlights the importance of regulation and the difficulty in maintaining that across the internet.

Another factor to consider is how the service will attract its audience and the viability of it. Kent TV has a huge amount of content, and with that comes dedicated workers with the majority seeking payment. Although other sources can be pooled to gain content, local internet news would have to be interesting and exciting enough to draw people away from their televisions and radios to ensure that the expansion was cost effective.

LOCAL INTERNET TV = CONTENT + COST / VIABILITY?

Atlantic FM Website

2008-01-28T12:38:00.000-08:00

Well as we all know Cornwall tends to take a while to get to grips with electronic advances, I have been down here (oppose to up-country Kat before you ask) all my life and getting post on time has sometimes seemed a major step forward. It is therefore refreshing to see that local radio stations are now embracing the internet.

Atlatic FM is Cornwall's newest radio station having launched in July 2006 and is the countys second commercial radio station, the other being Pirate FM. Currently the station has a 3.9% market reach in terms of listeners within the county, a fair way behind both Pirate FM who are on 14% of the market and Radio Cornwall who sit on 36%.

The problem that any business faces in Cornwall is how to become part of the Cornish way of life. It takes many years to do it and many business do not have the finances to float themselves while they establish themselves. I think Atlantic FM have done their homework and their internet service is proof of this.

Although they have not gone into producing internet television they do provide an entertaining set of podcasts including the Atlantic Report and the Pirates Podcast. The Atlantic Report covers the last 7 days news and would appeal to the Cornish ex-pats who subscribe to the West Briton in their thousands each week just to keep up to date with what is happening in Cornwall.

Due to the poor job market many people leave Cornwall to earn a living, but people from the Duchy are normally proud of their heritage and like to keep in touch. With a weekly news podcast these people can keep up to date with news from this end of the country and also save on the subscription costs that would be needed in recieving the West Briton or The Packet.

What I am really trying to get at is why compete for a small market audience in a county of 500,000 when you can gain thousands of listners from outside the region, ones who are not heavily attatched to one particular organisation.

I am involved with the other podcast, the Pirates Podcast, and last year it was recieving over 1000 downloads a week. Currently no other radio station in Cornwall produces a podcast devoted to the countys best rugby side, why not I ask myself.

In the last two weeks the Pirates official site recieved 48,000 hits, most of them from outside the county. As the team are not an elite club they do not get any real television coverage yet there are thousands out there who would love to have a regular service keeping them up to date and free of charge.

I see Atlantic FM's future as as a bright one if they pursue every angle they can to reach the thousands living outside of the county. Pirate FM and BBC Cornwall have had a huge head start so why spend huge amounts of money trying to take their listners when you can simply create your own.

I don't feel the station will ever use internet television however, mainly due to cost. I do think that providing some transmitted coverage of local events would help them to become more unique but with Tindle backing them, mainly a newspaper organisation, I cannot see that happening.

P.S. Out of interest and I hope that somebody can answer me this but when a license is granted by Ofcom I understand it is on certain conditions, i.e how many live hours you are broadcasting and your content. If that is the case anyone employed in the future are not only going to have to be good presenters but also very IT capable.

Pimp my blog

2008-01-27T07:01:00.000-08:00

oh god I need to get out more. I've just discovered the wonders of the customize your blog page... I'm weirdly entertained by making the blog pretty. I'm turning into a geek...please enrol me into some kind of social club NOW!! Er, hope you like the new pretty stuff on the side of the blog!!

This weekend's work

2008-01-27T06:15:00.001-08:00

Hello lovelies,
just wanted to say I thought it went really well on Friday with the survey and the filming, esp Beth and Sue who interviewed half of Falmouth by the look of it.
I'll have to see about booking an Avid suite for us to edit our video bits and bobs together ready for the presentation. I know we haven't got much time so (and this may be insane) I thought we might as well bullet and get straight on it on Monday.
Sue is busy with the survey analysis so if either Tom or Beth want to give me a hand with the editing can you let me know by adding a comment to this post? If you're both busy I'll give it a go on my own.
Cat xx

BBC internet video clip research

2008-01-22T08:07:00.000-08:00

This is from the Beeb's College of Journalism:-
sorry, it IS a huge article but SOOOO useful for our presentation!

The BBC's online audience has been able to choose video news on demand for some time; and here are some of the ways in which they've used it:

Most BBC News website users in the UK choose to read text news content in office hours -- but they prefer to watch video news content early in the evening, at home.

The BBC News website video audience favours entertainment over information. The most popular video news content, and that which remains popular for the longest, is visually led, quirky, visceral or violent.

The figures for "talking head" video clips have been consistently low - BBC News website users prefer to read correspondents' analysis in text rather than access a video clip and watch them do a piece to camera.

The lifespan of video news content on the BBC News website is typically no longer than two or three days. The clips that continue to be accessed after this period have "see-it-to-believe-it" content that spreads virally around the internet.

Global market research

The BBC commissioned research into the use of online news video indicated it was "the most popular and most accessed part of any kind of interaction." The reason was that it delivers "proximity (closeness to the news) and verification (seeing is believing)".

The research also found:

Users access video news content as a 'leisure activity'. They are more likely to indulge during breaks from work, in the evenings and at weekends.

They rarely choose to watch in full-screen mode, preferring to multitask, scanning other on-screen content while half-watching pop-up video content until they see something they feel merits their full attention.

Users are not looking to video news content for facts they could get from text and static pictures. They want it to add texture, convey sensations and provide emotional engagement.

Users want video news content that is graphic and dynamic - if they do not see things happening relatively quickly after opening a video file, it is abandoned.

Breaking news stories and user-generated content are particularly popular among the online video audience.

Users prefer video news content that is unedited and uncensored - presenters are not valued.

Users enjoy viewing footage that has been secretly filmed.

It is very rare for users to watch any single piece of online video more than once.

The most popular online video news content is almost always short-form clips.

Users want a search function to help them find clips

Users are indifferent about what software they use to display online video news content.

Will BBC News see a convergence between the way in which audiences watch news video online and the way they watch it through digital TV? Will a different market emerge? And if popularity on iPlayer is one measure of 'success' ... how will that change the way BBC News does its video journalism?

Survey

2008-01-21T15:27:00.000-08:00

yes yes yes it's the survey of wonder. I've emailed it to all your hotmail accounts ( I didn't have your uni email addresses). It's just one side cos I wanted to keep it simple...enjoy!

ITV local channels on the internet

2008-01-21T14:12:00.000-08:00

The ITV local channels all have their own webpages, which are linked to from the main ITV website.

When you click into each region, the regions' page opens in a new window and the video player starts playing the most recent news bulletin automatically.

The regions' pages all look almost identical, but the various sections differ slightly from region to region eg. Westcountry has a link to a live webcam at Fistral beach. ITV Wales currently has a section called ITVWales @ 50

Every region does seem to have the same few core sections however, eg. Local news; Travel News; Weather; Sport; Grassroots Sport among others.

Quite a lot of the video content on the local pages seems to have been made specifically for the website, eg. the weather report - the presenter says "welcome to the weather report on ITVLocal" or "...ITVLocal.com"; or entertainment interviews presented as being for ITVLocal rather than a specific area.

A lot -but not all of the ITVLocal pages have a Go Local section, with a map, on the right-hand side of the page where you can link through to ultra-local news.

I like the fact that each of the ITV regions has so much on its local pages, because often it seems like national news is all that the big broadcasters really want to focus on.

The extra, just-for-the-web content gives the viewer a lot more choice. On the ITV Wales page I found an interview with Trinny and Susannah which stretched to almost 8 minutes. There's no way local TV news would ever have time for that sort of item, so it's good that viewers can get this kind of variety on the website.

The ultra-local content reflects the growing trend for ultra-local sections in the main TV regional news and keeps some continuity between the two media.

The fact that some regions have different sections gives a feeling of variety.

Overall, in some ways the ITVLocal content has a lot more in it than I would have expected, and has quite a nice feel to it, with a lot of variety.
It does however still have some of the cheap feel to it that local news has always had, which is a shame. I guess local content just doesn't get the budget to make it any glossier, but I wonder if this will change with the rise of ever more local news? So many people complain that national news is too London-centric that I think the audience might appreciate a shift to more investment in local news. At the moment the channel bosses just don't seem to be taking things that way...

How are traditional news broadcasters using internet TV?

2008-01-21T13:21:00.001-08:00

I've looked at the different ways traditional news broadcasters are using internet TV at the moment.

Firstly I looked at ITV, on www.itv.com/news .
(nb. I first checked it out for the purposes of this presentation on the day that ITN were re-launching their News at Ten, and then on other 'normal' broadcast days.)
The site had a realy interesting mix of uses of video content, here is a bit of a breakdown of them:-

The news homepage is split more or less into three columns.

The first has the channel's top news stories and for every story you can click into a written article by clicking on the story's headline, and/or then also choose to watch the news report accompanying it by clicking on the video icon attached to the story's picture.

-I think this is well done, a good integration of web and video content, because the video and text complement each other rather than the text just being a transcript of the video.
These video reports appear to be reports that have been used in the regular broadcasts rather than made specifically for the website, so it must be a fairly cost-effective thing to do.

The second column is video reports only, ie when you click on the story you don't get a written article, just the video report which opens on the right hand side of the page.

-This column is only about half the width of the first, which is visually more interesting. It seems generally to be used ony for sport and entertainment news, which reflects the amount of importance given to Sport and Entertainment in the main news bulletins compared to general news.

The third column and the bottom of the second column contain video reports which would not be broadcast. On the day of the News at Ten launch for example there was a preview of the launch show with the female anchor Julie Etchells, ITN's big signing from Sky News. That particular report had an intentionally on-the-hoof feel to it, as it was shot at a newsroom camera rather than in the studio, and seemed to be unscripted (from the amount of times Julie repeated herself in it).
Other reports in these parts of the page include "A Correspondents View" pieces, with more personality-led pieces on the conditions in news locations, and "The Making of..." pieces showing eg. how the News at Ten titles are made.

-These Video Log / Vlog style pieces give a little behind the scenes look that there is time and space for on the website that the main bulletins won't always have. I think that even in these days of reality TV and interactivity, viewers still enjoy being given these behind-the-scenes type looks at TV reports. It also makes the website user feel like they're getting something different from the website than from the news programmes.

At the middle of the bottom of the screen is a link through to local news, divided by region. Once in the regional pages, you can search through local bulletins from the last week, which is a great resource. One reason why I like this feature is that if you want to look back to earlier stages of a running news story you can do so. Also, a lot of the ordinary people featured in local news will probably want to use this search feature to find their own contributions. I'm not sure if that's one of ITV's reasons for having this feature but I imagine it might be a good way to get new people using the website!

General comments

I like the layout of the ITV news homepage, the way the page is divided is clear to understand and use. I like the fact that every report has video footage at least, if not also an accompanying written report. The behind-the scenes style reports and show previews give the website an extra dimension you can't possibly get from the main news programmes.

It's also worth mentioning that once you've watched a report, several adverts appear in the video player, which is obviously a nice extra way for ITV to earn some revenue from news. (As we all know news does not make money for TV stations!)

That's enough for ITV, I'll do another post for local news pages, the Beeb and the other TV broadcasters I've looked at!

Westcountry rugby

2008-01-21T03:07:00.000-08:00

Although I will be concentrating on local radio I couldn't help but notice that westcountry is now showing highlights of Division One rugby via its website. For those who are not into rugby that is the second highest league in the country and includes the Cornish Pirates, Plymouth Albion, Launceston and Exeter.

Despite the huge interest in the region for the above sides the league gets very little coverage on the local news and a petition was recently sent to the BBC to give it more coverage on Spotlight. The league overall does not get a great deal of television in any part of the country and I can't help thinking that Westcountry are on to something here.

By putting highlights on their website they have not just pleased local people in their region, but are also likely to gain web visitors from supporters of other clubs throughout the country.

Westcountry and Spotlight compete for a small audience and to thrive they need to look at the bigger audience picture. By doing something which is new not just to this region but across the country Westcountry have taken a step forward in an ever increasing industry.

Website. www.itvlocal.com/westcountry

THE BRIDGE BETWEEN NET AND TV

2008-01-16T15:10:00.000-08:00

People use the internet far more than they watch television. It’s the source of all forms of information, and a quick way to access what you want. And, on the flip side, this means businesses or organisations can use websites to ensure visitors become hooked on what they provide and via easy formats such as film.

The British Government have employed these tactics creating several websites interlinked but which all use different formats to catch potential audiences. The traditional website (www.number-10.gov.uk) holds information on issues, press releases, events and biographies but there is also a link to their sight dedicated to screening important films – the ‘Downing Street YouTube Channel’ (www.youtube.com/downingst).

The film which greets you today as you navigate to the page is David Beckham talking about Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s visit to his football academy, and the film provides the perfect platform to demonstrate both the good work of Mr Beckham and Mr Brown.

Sites such as these break down the presenter-audience barrier which is sometimes associated with mainstream televised news. The casual format places the PM into his discussion with the background being a football pitch, not the interior of the Houses of Parliament, making both him and the topic more personable. Combined with this the non-intrusive film technique means the PM appears casual and relaxed in a way formal interviews for the news may make him appear defensive.

Films are also a good way of attracting new audiences as they are succinct; illustrating the story behind them and make the topic accessible. Not restricted by deadlines, the films can last for several minutes, allowing information to breath.
There are, however, several drawbacks to consider, and mainly for us, the journalist. With so many websites enabling people to watch or upload their own films it does, to some extent, make the journalist slightly redundant.

The films bring the story to life, and provide a more in-depth analysis making the topic easier to comprehend. Mainstream news can never compete with this as the format is there to be observed, not interacted with, and only a few seconds can be allocated to people of authority to get their point across. Sites which convey information through film also have the distinct advantage of being in control of their output and make it available at any time of the day, while journalists must legally keep the argument balanced and adhere to schedule restrictions.

It is not implausible to consider that scheduled news, in the future, may be relocated to the internet for people to opt in or out of, creating their own running order from a list of uploaded stories. It may be convenient to users but will it create a world of journalism baron of journalists as the citizen begins to take over newsgathering. Will this give the consumer more freedom about the type of news they watch and listen to, or will it destroy the connectivity people gain through news and the discussions they have about it?

Indeed what will it mean to the British Government? Scheduled news guarantees an audience, but if people are able to opt in to what they want, they are also able to opt out.

Transposing televised news to internet interactivity could be more of a balancing act than we first assumed.

STATISTICS

On the 16th January 2008 the Downing Street Channel has had 2838 subscribers and 280,814 visitors to date. This will almost definitely increase as more people take advantage of the different formats available for them to use on the internet to get their story across.

CHECK OUT

See how the traditional government website:
http://www.number-10.gov.uk/

is different to the new internet-television channel website:
www.youtube.com/downingst

What are they up to?

2008-01-16T09:55:00.000-08:00

I've stuck to the main channels; BBC, ITV and Channel 4 looking at what they have to offer in terms of internet TV at the moment.
The BBC have recently launched iplayer which allows anyone to go online and watch a BBC show (on any BBC channel, including freeview channels) at their leisure. I watched Sense and Sensibility on my laptop yesterday as I missed it on Sunday. A brilliant idea, although the quality is not as good as watching on a TV. Just go to the BBC website bbc.co.uk/iplayer. You can always catch up with the news on BBC, although not on the iplayer which is a shame as accessing their site and navigating around it for news articles isn't always the quickest method.
You can pretty much catch up and watch anything you like on any TV channel website, itv.co.uk and channel4.com. Local news and information is always available on the main terrestrial sites also. It's getting easier and easier for the audience to go online and watch. For local regions, the onslaught of internet TV will open up a range of stations and information that might not have been as readily available which will mean a larger audience for the main channels.
What do the advertisers have to think about now? How will internet TV affect the way commercial stations make their money is just one of the things I will be looking at and also how this affects the online audience.

Outline Plan

2008-01-16T08:48:00.000-08:00

Over the next few weeks I aim to look at how local radio in Cornwall is currently targeting it's wider audiences via the web. I will look in detail first at the following stations.

Radio Cornwall
Atlantic FM
Pirate FM

All these stations are expanding their use of the internet to reach a mass audience. Currently Atlantic FM have almost as many weekly listners to their Cornish Pirates podcast as they do for some of their shows.

The internet appears to be on first sight something which cornish stations are only just starting to run with and I hope to gain an insight into how crucial it could be over the next few weeks. In an ever increasing market place local media has realised that to survive and thrive it needs to offer something more than to just the 500,000 plus population of Cornwall. Keep reading as my journey of discovery is about to begin.

VIDEO NATION – an ‘anthropology of ourselves’

2008-01-15T15:27:00.000-08:00

The BBC launched Video Nation in 1993 to enable the ordinary citizen to explore and discuss topics that interested them. Still existing today the initiative provides facilities and technology to create 2-3 minute documentaries and upload them to the internet for anyone to watch. As far as news goes, Video Nation is feature orientated, establishing debates on topics which, due to a number of factors, become sidelined in mainstream news.

Ideas of integrating the citizen into national stories began back in 1937 with Tom Harrisson, Charles Madge and Humphrey Jennings who founded Mass Observation; a social research organisation which observed the lives of everyday people. A selected team attended religious meetings, sports and other events, exposing how the British public lived by simply writing down their observations.

Video Nation is a modern version of this, combining movement, image and sound and satisfying the increasing desire to peer into other people’s lives. These mini-documentaries are there to show a glimmer of how someone else lives and to integrate the ‘ordinary’ into mainstream news, which can sometimes seem dislocated from everyday ‘real’ life as we experience it.

This form of exploring lives via video demonstrates a media platform which local news could utilise in the future by creating a hybrid between televised news and internet participation. Video Nation has also demonstrated that the myth of the internet being a young person’s playground is defunct, and the site showcases many films made by older generations. This popularity with all age groups and the growing desire to see how others live points to the possibility that personal documentaries may become a more solid feature of mainstream news in the future.

To find out more about Video Nation or to apply to create your own mini-documentary visit

www.bbc.co.uk/videonation

Presentation meeting 2 notes

2008-01-11T07:13:00.000-08:00

Hello all,
just a reminder of what we decided at the last meeting.

The official presentation title is "How can internet TV transform local radio and TV news?"

Basic presentation structure:-

PART ONE
How local radio and TV are reaching their audiences right now.

PART TWO
What possibilities exist in internet TV

PART THREE
The future:- what do a) local news programme-makers; b) advertisers; and c) audiences want from their local news, and how could/will internet TV fit in to that?

Areas we've agreed to research this week:-
Sue and Beth - what exists in internet TV at the moment? Internet-only TV channels eg. Doughty Street; YouTube and other user-generated content; streaming on the web; posting video clips to websites etc etc.

Cat - how local TV is reaching its audiences right now. Focussing on Cornwall/South West, but considering other local TV in the UK/internationally.

Tom - As for Cat, but how local radio is reaching its audiences right now.

NEXT MEETING - Thursday17th Jan after the Newsroom session with Charlotte.

Please can everyone post their research notes on the blog as and when they have something?

Yay!

Blog meeting

2008-01-08T07:21:00.000-08:00

Wow - Cat you have done so much, thank you. Look forward to our meeting on Friday!

Our presentation plans

2008-01-08T07:07:00.000-08:00

Hello happy bloggers

meeting this Friday afternoon after the law exam to plan our ethics + regulation presentation further. I re-read the original handout last night and saw that our real presentation topic is on internet tv and local news, not new media generally. Doh!!
I'll post the official title and description from Charlotte's handout to this blog a bit later today so we all know where we are.

Cat xx

Meeting notes: 1

2007-12-30T10:34:00.001-08:00

These are the notes from our first meeting at the end of the Autumn term.
We decided to find examples over the christmas holiday of different uses of new technology by local news etc. to look at in our next meeting. So do add links etc. to new posts if you have any! Hope the mince pies are going down well with you all!
Cat xx

Brainstorm: content of our presentation

Uses of new technology in news media

Internet TV
Websites
blogs
facebook feeds
podcasts
mobile alerts
email alerts
RSS
news tickers (like stock exchange, Times Square etc.)
TV syndication in public places eg. Banks/train stations/hotels
interactive digital TV/red button
citizen journalism involvement

Brainstorm: presentation type + structure ideas

Intro –skit based on stereotyped image of local news. Dodgy graphics + audio, set scabby and falling over, newsreader stiff and local looking. Interruption from boffin type “don’t you know it’s the 21st century?!” followed by idiots guide to internet TV and its benefits...

What types of internet TV are already being used by local news broadcasters, and what's the aim of it?

How effective is what's already being done?

Benefits for advertisers, viewers, broadcasters of branching out into new media?

What other ways could internet TV in its different forms be used by local news broadcasters?

How about interviewing producers of local news media to get their perspective..?

Happy Christmas!

2007-12-17T13:58:00.000-08:00

It's nearly christmas so my present to you is a lovely blog post. Coming soon to this blog... the notes from our first group meeting at the end of last term. Watch this space, it's very exciting
Cat xx