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Video news still holds sway

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Writer: Odoobo C. Bichachi. PHOTO/COURTESY

Last year, the number of people in different parts of the world who avoid news or have succumbed to news fatigue reached an all-time high. According to the Reuters Institute’s digital report released in June 2024, “Around four in 10 (39 percent) now say they sometimes or often avoid the news – up 3 percentage points on [previous] year’s average”.

While both print and broadcast media suffer news avoidance, one news medium that still holds sway – and will continue to do so as the digital evolution continues – is video news. This is what you watch every day on television, on different online platforms including YouTube, and on social media clips.

The power of video news has been apparent since television technology was invented in the 1920s. Its place in the human mind and life has been cemented as video technology has continued to improve.

The strength and allure of video news lie in its many advantages over print and audio – news mediums that preceded it. Its immediacy (live), imagery, and audio puts audiences at the place of news in real-time.

This point could not have been better made than it was in Dawn DeGuzman, director of Global Visual and Audio Products at the Associated Press, September 23, 2024 article titled, “The power of video in news media: How increased audience engagement drives success.”

He wrote: “For instance, a video of a protest or natural disaster allows viewers to experience the event’s intensity and urgency, creating a stronger emotional connection to the story. This emotional engagement is crucial for news organisations, as it fosters a deeper connection with their audience.”

If you watched video news clips of the chaotic funeral of deceased Kawempe North MP Mohammed Ssegirinya in Masaka last weekend, then you can appreciate that no written word or voice-over could have rendered what happened at the home and at the Butale football pitch better than the video clips showed.

Thus video has the ability to etch events in the memories of those who have watched them in real time forever. Besides this, the motion picture has the power of creating a personal connection between the newsmakers and the audiences. For instance, listening to MP Ssegirinya’s mother lament how after the politically chaotic funeral of her son she was left with literally nothing to eat and to feed the children of the deceased by the feuding politicians that tried to “milk” the death will evoke sympathy, empathy, etc from viewers.

In recognition of the power of video news, public relations, and marketing communicators are also now increasingly injecting video into press releases. A press release is no longer just a piece of paper on headed paper! “If you want your press release to stand out, present it as audio-video. Not only will it appeal to the receiver, but it will also be more fluid. More people will be able to share it, talk about it, and take interest in it than they would a text press with bulky paragraphs.”

(https://www.pressreleasepower. com/benefits-of-video-press-release) That said, video news does have its drawbacks too, just like it is with the older mediums – print and radio. First is its transient nature. If you have missed a bulletin of television news, then that is it! You will have missed the event – recorded or in real-time. Fortunately, digital technology has made it easier and cheaper to store video news images so they can be retrieved at one’s convenience.

You will, thus, find the night’s television bulletin uploaded on YouTube minutes after the news readers have signed out. This remains accessible online forever! That said, the cost of producing video news can be another drawback. The smaller and cheaper the equipment, the poorer the quality of the video. Thus only professionals and established media have access to the good equipment that can produce powerful and transfixing video news.

Yes, citizen journalists have wandered into this area and produced some interesting video news clips – includ[1]ing the first amateur videos of an event, but the ultimate power of video news still belongs to professionals who apply skills, equipment, and sequencing to deliver the perfect news video.

In recognition of the changing audience landscape, these video news clips are now increasingly being shared by mainstream television media on social media platforms rather than waiting to do so at hourly bulletins as before.

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