Telegraph Arts Videos

I'm in love with this video, and a lot of the other videos on The Telegraph's website. I think that they are doing a great job of creating captivating online video content that can stand alone on their own merits. I think this piece does just that. First of all, the video content in the piece really centers around strong sound bites. The reporter was sent to Georgia to document the way that women live there, and framed his journey as a search to “find the most beautiful woman” in Georgia. Through the interview with the older man and later the conversation in the car, the treatment of women in the country is explored in interesting ways. Also, the clip of the women singing is fascinating, even if it adds less to the story. 

NBC To Feature HD Video on Olympics Site

NBCOlympics.com, scheduled to go live tomorrow, features a lot of great interactive video content. NBC will be using Microsoft Silverlight technology to offer full HD videos on the site reports Tech Crunch. Additionally, the video player will have a DVR-like feature! This will allow visitors to the sit to rewind videos, highlight clips, save them etc.

Another cool video feature, that NBC will be unveiling tomorrow is the incorporation of facebook chat with the videos.  With this, people will be able to chat with friends while watching videos. I definitely think that this added connectivity could greatly increase view counts. It will be interesting to see whether it will prove popular enough to be added to video content in the future.

Truce Between White House and Fox?

As the intriguing “war” between Fox News and the White House raged on for the last few weeks, I think everyone was curious as to how it might end. Well, Fishbowl DC reported last week that a sort of “truce” had apparently been brokered. Putting aside whether or not this conflict was good for the country, was fanning the flames of this war of words good for Fox News?

From a business perspective it seems to have been. After displaying graphics across their opinion programming such as “Not White House Approved” on Hannity, Fox saw it’s ratings increase over the past week. It is interesting what the effect of “becoming the story” is on news’ organizations. Whether or not it’s good for their news, it does seem to be good for their business.

Is Journalism in a Crisis?

Jeff Jarvis argues against the popular notion that the journalism industry is currently facing a huge crises in today’s issue of The Guardian. The main reason that he sees for realizing this fact is the current push for government supported media. With the recent publication of The Reconstruction of American Journalism by Columbia University there has been a lot of buzz surrounding the idea of government sponsored media like the BBC in England.

Jarvis argues that a government supported business model of journalism is unnecessary and may prove detrimental to journalism’s purpose in society. He cites the fact that some view the BBC as an unfair competitor in England, and that it creates a distortion on the internet.

I’m not that familiar with England’s media landscape to know whether that it is true or not, but I do think that there’s something to be said for embracing change rather than surrendering to it. Perhaps more attention should be paid on developing solutions for the former.

OWLE Creates Amazing Video With iPhone

In this incredibly impressive video recorded from an iPhone, OWLE has created some pretty remarkable footage. After a whole bunch of modifications, the team was able to record was appears to be almost broadcast quality footage from a simple iPhone. The comparisons between the before and after shots are pretty crazy.

If this technology developed it would be amazing for any media company interested in creating cheap video content. I know many media outlets are currently depending on flip cams for this sort of footage, but just think how much more watchable their finished products would be with after taking advantage of improved technology such as this. Hopefully, OWLE will be able to develop their project further!

Condé Nast Plans iPhone App

In another example of a traditional media company branching out into new mediums, Condé Nast has recently announced their attention to create an iPhone App for some of their popular publications. This December, an app of the latest GQ issue will go on sale for $2.99 as opposed to the $4.99 price of the print version. The most interesting news surrounding this upcoming app, however, is that the app will basically consist of a digital version of the magazine. It will replicate the print version on a page by page basis but also include additional content such as videos!

It will be interesting to see whether this new venture will generate that much additional revenue for Condé Nast, but I do think they are heading in the right direction with it’s development. Also, as Peter Kafka points out, this will perfectly situate them to take full advantage of any tablet technology emerging in the near future.

CNN.com Relaunches With Emphasis on Video

This Monday, CNN.com, one of the most popular websites on the internet, will relaunch with a greater focus on video content reports The Guardian. The homepage will now focus much more on photo and video content rather than the previous text-heavy design.

Nick Wrenn, CNN’s VP of Digital Services, said that a lot of their “deep, rich content” was falling off the homepage too quickly. Another interesting change is the new website’s focus on Entertainment news. This could be a result of the Huffington Post’s mixture of Political and Entertainment news and the success that mixture has had driving viewer’s to their site.

Other interesting tidbits from Wrenn: 1. There will be more TV material online. 2. The new design will focus on getting “all of the multimedia within the field” and 3. 50% of CNN’s users watch both the video and read the story of an article!!