Ask the Recruiter

Q. I wanted to raise a few points with you because you write a column, and as a visiting professor you perhaps have more time to think about such things than I do.

The first is the integration of video into new Web pages. Your recent column on digital skills suggested that news people should have these skills. I've run an online daily for eight years, and I have not put up a single video. We provide written information.

So the first question is: What is the viewership and information retention associated with online video clips? I sometimes get kissed off as a troglodyte, but I think I raise an important question.

I also feel the same way about blogs. Sure, anyone can keep a diary, but what is the incentive to do it long-term, and what is the readership?

We get 5 million hits a month providing straight news and advertising. What the heck is the purpose of a blog anyway, and why is it vital (as Mindy McAdams says on her site, which you linked to) that a reporter have one?

Frankly, it scares me to death to have a reporter writing a column independent of the two pairs of eyes that look at every newspaper item.

A. I hope you won't mind if I rephrase your question a bit:

"Why should my online news site post videos and blogs?"

Videos: The evidence hasn't all sorted itself out. It is clear that people love to watch videos. YouTube and a host of imitators are taking millions of eyeballs and hours away from whatever other pursuits those people might be engaged in -- such as news sites. The experience with videos on news sites is not always as grand. While a news-site video may not get as many clicks as text stories, video can help another key metric -- time on site.

Some editors are in the video game because they see it as part of their future and want to develop a competence at it. Some news stories are just flat-out better told in videos than text. That is key: choosing the medium based on the content.

The cost to do this is low. All it takes is a camera with a decent external microphone and some software. A video can be posted to YouTube, Vimeo or something similar, and then the embed code can be copied-and-pasted onto your news site. The YouTube channel, as it is called, can be another way to attract readers to your site. The better the video, the stronger the pull.

I feel the same way about blogs. They can be handy tools for posting the right kind of content. Blogs are well-suited, for example, for breaking news. There is nothing that says blogs have to be unedited, irresponsible diatribes. They don't even have to be just words. I can see that any blog your site posts would go through the standard work flow. That is fine. Lots of newsrooms edit blog posts before publishing them. Some have learned that the hard way.

I would say to try it. No amount of research or study can predict how videos or a blog will work for your readers. You have to take a chance. The costs of entry are low, the potential upside is high and you can get great data back through your traffic metrics about how well they work. Your journalistic principles will ensure that only the good content gets posted.

Coming Wednesday: This 24-year-old TV producer's dream job is network reporter. Her station has offered what she calls a lustier position as an on-air "sex columnist." Should she take it?