Entertainment covers fields like movies which have a naturally entertaining form. For example, a movie is instinctively entertaining through its audio-visual presentation.
However, when it comes to entertainment news – presentation is quite basic. Many news websites include an entertainment section featuring interesting news, but do not use any presentation features beyond text and pictures.
Should entertainment news be presented in an entertaining way?
There are more new media advances nowadays like YouTubeDirect which help websites present news in a more engaging manner. YouTubeDirect allows people to post their YouTube videos on news websites, so news websites can run their stories alongside videos.
An examiner.com article (included below) gives a good overview of how YouTubeDirect increases video uploading opportunities online. As YouTubeDirect is convenient to use, users would have little trouble uploading their videos.
While users can upload videos of any genre to YouTubeDirect, I believe such a video-uploading platform would be especially relevant to the entertainment section, where attractive entertainment events or celebrities can be shown in action.
Would video-presentation of entertainment news really affect readership, though? Take the Singapore Idol competition. Would you rather read about Charles 'Stitch' Wong winning Singapore Idol, or watch him perform in an accompanying YouTube video before reading the story?
Or would you prefer other presentation forms?
Take the entertainment news poll (found in the right panel), and comment at will :)!
Note: If you choose option D) in the poll, do comment to elaborate on what presentation forms you mean. Thanks!
Reference:
A new video reporting tool for third-party websites: http://www.examiner.com/x-23513-Baltimore-Computers-Examiner~y2009m11d17-YouTube-Direct--a-new-video-reporting-tool-for-website
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Hey Aubrey, interesting article on reporting entertainment news in an entertaining manner! It's true, I'd rather watch Charles' performance accompanied by an article than simply just pictures and text. However, it may mean more work for the reporters but of course, added value for readers. I'm sure many other news websites are integrating different forms of media to produce such added value for their readers, such as msn.com where videos, pictures and text are all available. More work for them, but awesome for us! (:
ReplyDeleteJovita
Hi Jovita! True - gathering videos will mean more work for reporters. But then citizen journalism can pitch in too, especially through avenues like YouTubeDirect and its base in YouTube's many citizen-made videos.
ReplyDeleteI definately enjoy it when websites like msn.com or straitstimes.com provide videos too. I haven't had any problems like longer page-loading times with them either - such problems would be a major downside!
Hi Aubrey! I, like Jovita, would much rather have the option of watching Charles' performance alongside reading the report. Online newspapers should definitely incorporate multimedia so readers can enjoy the most of what the Internet medium offers. On that note, I think you should include the option of picture and/or video and/or animation in your poll because having a combination for certain stories can in itself add to said value.
ReplyDelete-- Tan Su Yi Kay 0703121D T04
Hey Kay, thanks for your feedback! I've revised my poll so that people can choose more than one entertainment form in their answers :).
ReplyDeleteI agree that various multimedia can add value to certain stories. News organisations would need a balance, though, between giving users what they want and providing a multimedia overload with too many media features accompanying a story.
Hi Aubrey, for my own, i prefer animation as the presentation form. Because people would like to see more than read.If we use animation or someother presentation type to delivery the information, it becomes more vividly and interesting for users to see it rather than just read the plain words. D:>
ReplyDeleteHi Mengying, cool! Thanks for sharing, I enjoy animation too as long as it's relevant and not overdone.
ReplyDeleteHi Aubrey, i prefer to watch them perform rather then reading about them. Watching them perform will be more enjoyable then reading about them. Interesting post too =)
ReplyDeleteHi Weiren, thanks :)! I usually prefer videos over text too, as most videos allow me to see and hear the action.
ReplyDeleteI wonder whether our mainstream news source will ever become video newspapers in cyberspace - when most stories are packaged as videos instead of articles. With accessible video-uploading platforms like Youtube and a more multi-media oriented audience nowadays, such newspapers may soon be a reality!
Hi Aubrey!
ReplyDeleteInteresting post you have here. I agree with Kay that i rather watch Charles's performance alongside with the report. It is because I'm able to evaluate Charles's performance after watching his performance instead of just reading the article about him because I don't know how good he is in his performance on that day.
Besides that having videos, people who does not follow the Singapore Idol are able to know and better idea who is Charles and how he performs. This will help the people to comment and evaluate his performance.Thank you =)