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AOP: FT.com will break more news with online video, says head of video

Posted: 02/10/08 By: Laura Oliver
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FT.com will boost its online video with more breaking news coverage and footage produced by reporters, Richard Edgar, head of video, told Journalism.co.uk.

Edgar, who was a panelist at yesterday's Association of Online Publishers (AOP) Digital Publishing Summit, said he was planning more 'video scoops' for the site to add to its existing programme of video.

FT.com correspondents have been experimenting with small cameras to shoot their own news videos, said Edgar, adding that Reuters' use of video experts to cover events such as the World Economics Forum in Davos earlier this year was an inspirational model.

But, he said, technological changes are required to get more breaking news video on FT.com.

"We could improve the workflow that we've got at the moment, in order to turn things around more quickly. I think that's one of the key things, because it's one of the big delays. Once you've got the video, there's quite a delay before its goes online," he told Journalism.co.uk.

"We're beginning to see that some of the technically savvy correspondents are asking us for small cameras that they can take with them. At the moment it's more for [producing] packages, so it's not under time pressure, but that is one way that I think you would be able to turn material round."

There are no plans at present to use user-generated video or to let users embed footage on external sites - a high editorial control of content is preferred, he added.

However, he said experiments with live video streams, where readers could submit questions or comment, had been successful and could be repeated in the future.

There is a high demand from readers for 'talking heads' style videos 'though they're not traditionally what you'd expect to be successful in video', he said.

"People want to hear analytical voices, they want to hear policy makers' voices, and something that we have at the FT is access to those policy makers."

Producers with video experience had been recruited by FT.com to act as 'video evangelists' in the newsroom and share their expertise with existing journalists creating a production hub, he explained to delegates.

The site recorded one million video streams in March, Edgar told the conference, and online video now accounts for 5-10 per cent of FT.com's revenue.

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