NPR Mistakenly Shuns Video in Site Relaunch
NPR CEO Vivian Schiller offered the NYT multiple reasons for holding back on video: it’s expensive and the value to NPR is uncertain. With that in mind, “We absolutely should not be heavily invested in video.”
NPR relaunched their web site (see video below for a tour of the new site - looks nice) and made a conscious decision to avoid heavy use of video in the relaunch. As the quote above shows the perceived costs and questionable benefit of video were major factors in the decision to avoid video. There seems to be some other internal political issues as well (with an oblique reference to the same in the article); but lets focus on the decision to avoid video for cost and value to viewers.
Of course, in my biased opinion its a mistake. Why? NPR has rich personalities, interesting stories and unique perspectives on stories that aren't typically covered by mainstream media in the same, in-depth way. These unique looks at life and people, often produced and sourced across a variety of people, places and time, are the perfect fodder for short, pithy, compelling video content that could really add to the experience on the Web site.
Forget the breaking news. There's no need to produce video for that as that is done in so many other places. But NPR's signature storytelling could really be emphasized and showcased with quality online video.
We all know that traditional production is expensive and we all know that it can be a tough translation to the Web audience. We also know (if you know anything about my company) that there are people out there creating affordable, engaging and unique content for the Web that resonates with audiences and works for the publisher.
Whether it's unique stories from around the world, profiles of the stations' talent, or stories of the value that the stations bring to the community - there are hundreds of opportunities for video to enhance the visitor experience and drive visitors to join as members instead of passive consumers of content.
It's a shame that a forward-thinking organization like NPR takes an old-world look at video. The new site looks great and I hope that they'll come around to add more video to a site whose job is to tell compelling stories. The value of video in that regard is anything but uncertain.
Of course and as always, the opinions here are my own and in no way represent those of TurnHere.
New site tour:
