by Terry Segal on August 10, 2009
in The Web
Here’s a simple, yet effective test for determining whether your news operation fully embraces the web.
Which scenario best describes how you treat a major breaking story on your website?
1) Fully report the story with appropriate copy and video as soon as possible.
2) Provide a detailed summary and alert viewers to full coverage at 5, 6 or 10.
The second option means you treat the web as a stepchild. You’re still protecting your televised newscast as the priority vehicle. You haven’t fully embraced the web.
This strategy may work in the short term, but who knows when the short term ends?
Get ahead of the curve and start fully using the web.
The web is not a vehicle to tease people about upcoming televised coverage or to delay the full release of details. These halfway measures display a limited web commitment to viewers.
A robust web commitment will strengthen, not lessen, your overall news image.
by Terry Segal on July 15, 2009
in The Web
The web can’t save a poorly produced news package. The report either works on television or it doesn’t.
I recently saw a package that featured the best month to buy certain types of products. Its goal was to provide a cheat sheet for getting the best bargains. Furniture in January. Electronics in April. Lawn mowers in October.
Great idea. Poor execution.
The reporter raced through a twelve month summary that was positively dizzying. The video was solid, but no on screen supers or graphical support to help viewers keep track. What month are we in? What product is that? It all ran together.
Her on-set close directed people to the station’s website for a summary list. It’s as if she was saying, “People I know that was a lot information. Kind of confusing. Check here to make sense of it.”
Using the web to augment the report was good. But a poorly produced package in the first place drained viewer interest. Most probably never checked out the web. Lost opportunity.
Use the web to add value and depth to your reporting. Just make sure that the on-air package can stand on its own. Your website is not a safety net for poor reporting.
