THE BRIDGE BETWEEN NET AND TV

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?

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

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’

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