Session Coverage

Virtual Reality
Fear not the digital revolution that transfers
control of content from your hands to your audiences'.

LAS VEGAS--When Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1450, he changed the very nature of the printed word; he gave the ability to write and create to anyone with access to moveable type.

Now, 550 years later, broadcast journalists face a similar revolution with the advances of the Internet and other digital tools that give the ability to write, shoot, post and create to anyone with a laptop and WiFi.

During the opening session of RTNDA@NAB in Las Vegas -- News 2.0: Leading and Succeeding in the New Journalism World -- a panel of digital media authorities discussed the changing Internet landscape and how traditional broadcast media should change with it.

Moderator of the five-person panel was Miles O'Brien, chief technology correspondent for CNN. O'Brien started by asking the panel if broadcast journalists are in the midst of a natural iteration of media, or an entire paradigm shift.

Michael Rosenblum, founder of the video journalism movement, likened the Internet's "complete democratization" of broadcast to Gutenberg's revolution in print. Cameras and other equipment are now affordable and easy to use, as are many digital editing systems, and the Internet's capabilities to handle video means anyone can create content and broadcast it online.

It is so easy, in fact, that at one point O'Brien had his 13- and 14-year-old children at home in New York hook up cameras to their computers and stream live video to his laptop on stage.

But now that we are becoming more familiar with the tools, we need to rethink how digital technology is used in the newsrooms, said Terry Heaton, senior vice president, Media 2.0, Audience Research & Development, Fort Worth, TX. Through his laptop on stage, O'Brien showed station websites in Nashville, TN, that Heaton pointed to as examples of how newsrooms can disseminate news and also be the portal to other sites in the community.

Broadcast journalists should embrace the idea of building a network, and appreciate the value of links, even ones that drive web surfers to other sites, he said.

"Advertising on the web is about direct marketing, not mass marketing," Heaton said.

"So you're encouraging your audience to be fragmented?" O'Brien asked?

"They're already fragmented," Heaton replied.

What this digital revolution means is a shift in control, Heaton added. "We need to understand that this change is about people, not technology-about people using technology." To that end, a newsroom's website can't just be a place to stream the 6 o'clock newscast, added Rosenblum.

"The architecture of television is fundamentally different from the architecture of the Internet," he said. For instance, some networks and local stations view the video streaming possibilities online as a way to replay broadcasts made for TV, rather than looking for ways to engage the audience and make the communication reciprocal.

Zadi Diaz, new media producer for Smashface Productions in Beverly Hills, CA, produces Jet Set, a video blog for young adults that she produces out of her living room, reaching 40,000 to 50,000 people a day. One of her goals is to be the antithesis of television, she said, meaning that she doesn't want to make viewers lean back and watch passively as they tend to do with television, but make the audience lean forward and want to interact.

O'Brien asked the panel to create a To Do list for broadcast journalists so that they can be ahead of the digital curve and not always reacting to new digital dilemmas:

Amanda Congdon, videoblogger, ABCNews, Los Angeles: Look at the portal idea. Networks hesitate to "link out" because it will take viewers off their site, but in reality you can build your audience and community by linking elsewhere, because they'll rely on you to point them to the useful information.
Michael Rosenblum, Rosenblum Associates, New York: The website is your focus group. Don't just rely on your producer to decide what viewers want. Go to them directly.
Elizabeth Osder, former senior director product, Yahoo! News, Culver City, CA: Find the people who are already doing this and bring them in. Learn from people who already have the experience and listen to their insight.
Zadi Diaz, new media producer, Smashface Productions, Beverly Hills, CA: Let go of the fear. It's like parents who keep a tight leash on their children because they are afraid of what they'll do on their own. The fear is all about losing control once you allow citizens to be part of your content.
Terry Heaton, senior vice president, Media 2.0, Audience Research & Development, Fort Worth, TX: Embrace the tools of the personal media revolution. Look at the marketplace; define and organize the local websites; every community has hundreds of vibrant sites so you have to ask yourself, "How do we serve them?" Someone is going to be the aggregator and organizer of all that local content. Shouldn't it be you?

-- Stefani Blair