Multimedia journalism

Last week our class visited washingtonpost.com's newsroom in Alexandria and got some great tips from their multimedia editor Tom Kennedy on the future of news. Kennedy said, "Part of the challenge for us is figuring out mechanisms of distribution ... and the ubiquity of content." The Post.com is trying to figure out different platforms to present content so it's the most convenient for the consumer - whether they get their news on their Blackberry, cell phone, radio, Web, print, etc. He even wonders if there is a news platform that can operate in a way like YouTube, which has become such a big hit in the past year. Maybe quick news video hits, he suggests. Being innovative is the name of the game these days, and the washingtonpost.com is one of the leading innovators in the .com news business.

Kennedy pointed to some other news organizations using innovative Internet applications to reach across platforms as good examples. For instance, Atlanta 11 is using their Web site so that readers can search for newscasts according to keywords. Kennedy said, "TV is figuring out how to make value of their newscasts for the Web audience." He is looking for the technology washingtonpost.com can use to get similar results.

As of right now, washingtonpost.com is striving to use the Web as a place where readers can go for original content throughout the day. He said that the Post's site gets high amounts of user hits early in the morning, will crest again between 12 and 2 and then again between 3 and 5 and then another blip in the middle of the night when the international edition goes out. "We are always trying to surf the wave as far as fresh content," Kennedy said, as he and his team try to update the site before these "crests" throughout the day.

I think the Post's strategy is a good one and look forward to seeing how else they can advance the online news industry.