Reportr.net

There is a flurry of discussion online about how established news organisations are offering video on their websites.

The debate centres over how far can existing TV practices be adapted to the world of YouTube and short clips.

Newspapers are rushing headlong into deals to offer video on their websites, but as Paul Bradshaw points out, “in all cases publishers seem to be making television - not video”.

This may seem like an obvious point but it is surprising how many mainstream news organisations are ignoring this. Adrian Monck has penned a piece for the BBC’s journalism college on the use of video on websites.

His main point is that we need to rethink how to do video online as the conventional TV news piece does not work on the web.

A quick review of video online tells you newspaper guys are still in charge of newspapers, and TV and radio people at the BBC control the commissioning strings for the content that ends up online.

What I find surprising is that the industry is still having this discussion. It reflects how people in broadcasting and print have failed to realise that the internet is a new medium. It shows the deep lack of understanding of digital journalism and its potential.

Rethinking how we do video online is a start. But we need to rethink journalism for an interactive and participatory age.