Blogging and video dominated the fourth annual Online News Association (ONA) Conference. (More info available at the ONA conference blog.) From Video Killed the Text-News Star, by Mark Fitzgerald, via Editor and Publisher:
Leonard Apcar, editor in chief of The New York Times on the Web, suggested the 2004 presidential election could be, for online video, one of those tipping points that propels a brand-new news delivery technology -- and newspapers had better seize the day.
"Video is actually coming," Apcar said. "We have a moment in front of us in which news Web sites can capture a significant market and make real strides ... Video as a story-telling device can no longer be ignored --especially by newspaper-oriented sites -- or downplayed."
Pushing this perceived demand for video delivery are two big technological trends: the ubiquity of high-speed Internet access in offices and its rapid spread among home users, plus the development of ever more easy-to-use multimedia reporting devices.
At the ONA meeting, Martha Stone, the training director at Ifra Newsplex, showed off a digital media recorder the size of a personal digital assistant (PDA), video cameras that record on mini digital discs, and a software package (Serious Magic Visual Communicator Pro) that allows a reporter to compile a broadcast-quality video story with a simple drag-and-drop interface. In less than a minute, Stone produced a sample story for ONA attendees...
ONA also heard from skeptics. Jai Singh, vice president and editor in chief of CNet News.com, reminded attendees of his company's unsuccessful past forays into video -- and said he doesn't believe video news delivery will pay off any time soon. "Here we are barely able to figure out a business plan for Web-based sites -- and we want to go to cell phones and Blackberries and whatever else," he said. "Do we think about who's going to pay for it? People will pay for sports and horoscopes and people will pay for some things, but news has become such a commodity, why would you pay for it?"