Fighting the last war

One of my objectives of the past year has been to do vertical video: ~90 second, piece-to-camera clips made simply and quickly about stories I’ve written.

I call it “fighting the last war” because that’s what it feels like.

My contention is that digital media companies should have developed better social media strategies a while ago, and now we’re scrambling to crack this form of distribution as the next is cresting on the horizon (no prizes for guessing what this is).

To be fair, this view benefits from hindsight and a detachment from the punishing commercial realities of the business.

Creditable efforts are being made by NZ media companies now. So much so, both of the major digital publications have become broadcasters on linear television.

Still, I believe journalists should themselves embrace the means of sharing their work, and this means reporters should get acquainted with vertical video*.

Most outside broadcast media are reluctant. I needed converting. It helps to think of reasons why to do it:

Beyond the why, there is the how.

Plainly, the platforms are tough places to get seen and keep the viewer’s attention.

Yet for trust reasons I think journalists should stay in their lane, meaning no trend-chasing, dances, fads, skits, gratuitous shock-cuts, polarisation-bait, or editorialising outside of clearly-marked opinion journalism.

Videos can still have strong hooks, be snappy or engaging, tell stories with clear stakes or contest, or provide context and behind-the-scenes details.

Another idea I found uncomfortable but believe should be embraced: inserting yourself in the video’s narrative, as in “I’ve interviewed…” and “Here I am…”, to both forge connection with the viewer and humanise the act of journalism.

Given the audience is broad and general and the format has constraints, a rule-of-thumb I try (and sometimes fail) to follow is that videos should be more introductory than detailed.

This is particularly relevant for reporting that caters to niche audiences or heavy news consumers. Translated into social media videos, it means introducing the characters, the concepts, and the tension, and maybe not the intricate detail of a particular story.

Ideally the video has enough information for the viewer to decode the story, if they choose to click through.

When it comes to actually making the video, there is one major hurdle that needs overcoming: embarrassment.

My solution to this is deciding not to care. Early efforts I posted were especially entertaining to a group of colleagues who dubbed them “hostage videos”, a fairly apt description.

It’s easy to be a critic. Also, the videos are not made for your cynical peers but for an audience unfamiliar with you or your work.

The mechanics of producing a video can be dependent on circumstance: whether there’s a videographer or social media team in the newsroom, or you want to produce under your own steam.

I’ve chosen the latter and developed my own process through trial and error, based around the premise that it should take as little effort and time as possible, be costless and entirely done on the iPhone.

Much as journalists have their own X or LinkedIn account, I think it makes sense to have personal channels on the video platforms. I post to my own professional Instagram page and my videos go on the BusinessDesk channels.

Another difficult aspect is consistency. Regular posting is key to success on the platforms, but making social videos tends to fall down the list when there’s reporting to be done or stories to write.

But it can feel a worthwhile effort when, every now and then, a couple thousand people watch maybe 12 seconds of you talking about your reporting. Surely this cannot hurt the cause.

*Everything I say comes with the huge caveat that both my experience and success on social media are limited at best.
**I’ve ripped this TV quip from Semafor’s excellent Mixed Signals podcast about the US media scene.