U.S. newspapers have ceded ground to broadcast television and the Internet in the past, but the Minneapolis Star Tribune is preparing to meet its competitors head on.
“Too many newspapers have given up breaking news in their markets,” said Dan Shorter, president of digital media at the Star Tribune. “We want to take it back.”
At the Star Tribune, taking it back has involved a multi-pronged new media approach, which includes an increased Web presence, interactive audience editorials, and diversifying their digital portfolios with new collaborations such as mobile providers, TV and cable partners.
“We don’t think our digital business can survive just being an online site,” said Shorter. “We need to develop various platforms.” The Star Tribune’s key to building these new partnerships has been what once was considered the enemy of every print media outlet: video.
The Star Tribune began to invest in video several years ago but has significantly increased its output over the course of this year. “A lot of people are just building up Web sites. Sorry, not enough; you have to build up video,” said Shorter, who is convinced that it is an ideal way to reach across multiple platforms, including online, mobile devices, and through cable partnerships, to serve the Star Tribune’s audience.
Describing it as a “multi-armed weapon,” Shorter sees online news video as a means of growing and diversifying the Star Tribune, a strategy that is needed if the newspaper is to remain vibrant and healthy. “We cannot survive off Web sites alone,” he said. “We have to get distribution off mobile, cable and broadcast TV.”
Embracing new media and videos has proven far from simple for the Star Tribune and countless other print publications struggling to link their black and white newsprint past to the digital future. The shift to producing quality online content has required a “cultural change” at the Star Tribune, according to Shorter.
Changing the Culture
In addition to training and purchasing equipment, which have gone a long way in bringing people on board the new media venture, support from senior staff has also been crucial in ensuring success. “Newsroom leadership has faith in what we do. That may be an important part of why we haven’t met with much resistance,” said Will Tacy, managing editor of digital media. Senior staff members have made it clear that video storytelling is critical to the Star Tribune’s future, and “that kind of message from leaders goes a long way.”
“It’s not an easy transition because it means thinking about so many aspects of how we do our job,” said Tacy. He describes video in particular as a fundamentally different medium from the print stories that reporters are used to writing.
To that end, the Star Tribune rolled out an extensive training program to best arm their reporters with the skills needed to produce high quality online video content. The Tribune’s original video training program targeted staff photographers, and sessions were taught by journalism professors from the University of Minnesota. Training sessions are now open to reporters and are led by a mix of professors, outside consultants and Star Tribune staff members.
Current training includes a three-day seminar on video for photographers [which focuses on story structure and differences from print stories], a separate seminar on video for reporters [which covers basic techniques of shooting video], and shorter multi-hour courses on writing for video, vocal delivery, on-camera presentation and gathering and editing audio. Weekly one-on-one and group feedback sessions led by a University of Minnesota instructor are also available in-house.
In all, more than 50 Star Tribune staffers have received new media training, including team leaders who may never hold a camera but need to know what is involved in creating Web and video content.
“The overarching goal is to say that video has to be a part of everything we’re doing,” said Tacy. “It’s another tool in our toolbox.” The Star Tribune toolbox also includes investing in its technology infrastructure, with the creation of four video editing stations, a dedicated audio editing room and an audio recording/editing room.
Sony cameras (Z7U, V1U and Handycams) as well as Flip cams have been purchased for videographers, and Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Express and Avid are used to edit footage. The Star Tribune also increased its staff, hiring a multimedia technician to focus on audio and video production. All told, the newspaper is producing on average four videos per day.
Tacy also insists that maintaining news quality is key, and video should be held to a comparably high standard. “We need to bring the same kind of critical storytelling eye to video along with everything else we do,” said Tacy, a sentiment echoed by Steve Rice, an 11-year-veteran photographer at the Star Tribune. For Rice, “applying the same standards to your online product that you do to your printed product” is essential.
Rice went through the Star Tribune video training, and he saw some coworkers struggle with change. But, those “people who have been hesitant, once they started and got into it, are now really enjoying it,” he said. “It’s kind of like learning to walk again on some level, you have to learn how to do this and be comfortable with it.”
And the benefits are there for staff members who make the leap to new media. “The wonderful thing about being able to work online is that in the newspaper, you may use one or two or three pictures, but online you can dive into something and tell a complete story,” said Rice. “There’s not a concern about cost per page.”
Formerly limited to still images, Rice and his colleagues now have audio, slideshows and video to enhance their storytelling abilities. The Star Tribune is not stopping there, however. “We’re experimenting not just with news videos, but also with shows, things that are more programmed,” explained Tacy.
At present, the Star Tribune produces five programmed shows available on their Web site, covering such topics as sports, finance and home and gardening. Shows range from four to six minutes in length, and while most are filmed on location, some shows such as “Dollar Duo” have dedicated onsite studio space. The Tribune has also looked to its own audience for increased content, with a push towards more interactive offerings.
Lisa Gira, senior project manager for interactive media at the Star Tribune, has witnessed a boost in online traffic as more interactive features are rolled out on the Web site. Readers are now able to comment on most news stories online, as well as read postings from other readers. Audience members are even able to post their own videos and photos to the site, on subjects from travel to local life to weather.
“It’s just grown every month,” said Gira. “People want to interact and share their thoughts and ideas.” This two-way interaction in turn bolsters their experience with the Star Tribune. “It allows consumers to engage and participate in the news, and it enhances the information that they can get.”
If numbers are any indicator, then the Star Tribune’s online audience is definitely appreciative of the sweeping changes taking place. An estimated 200,000 unique visitors viewed video on the Tribune Web site in September. This is a 41 percent increase in viewership from June of this year, when the Tribune began revamping its video presentation and added weekly scheduled programs.
“We’ve had very significant growth every month,” said Tacy. “It’s a reflection of the volume and quality we’re producing.” The Star Tribune aims to reach one million video views a month by the end of 2008, a feasible goal considering their growth so far this year.
Increasing and broadening the Tribune’s current readership is a necessity in attracting new and more lucrative advertisers to the site. “We have to make this a business,” said Dan Shorter. “We need to get to a certain number of views so we can model rates.”
Advertising
The Star Tribune has now had several successful months of increased video output and audience figures, but “we’re just now starting to get enough history to see how many impressions we have to sell,” said Shorter. “We have to show what our audience is.”
Dan Krolczyk is the digital media sales director at the Star Tribune. He explained that the Tribune’s rate structure is still in transition because traffic has yet to be determined. “Essentially we have to follow the market and what our residents want online, and charge a fair market value.”
Offering both pre-roll and post-roll video ad space, the Star Tribune has focused on automotive and travel advertisers with thus far mixed results. The automotive category “hasn’t been a sales windfall,” said Krolczyk. But “we’ve had success in the travel category. They’re always looking for new ways to extend their message,” he said. The Star Tribune is also offering employment video ads from dozens of companies.
“The truth is that not every company has a video strategy right now,” Krolczyk explained. “The first thing that traditional advertisers might talk about is print, then the flagship Web site…we’re just at the cusp of showing customers how to really close the multimedia story with video.”
Krolczyk estimates that the Star Tribune will have an online video advertising rate structure solidified by the end of the year, and they have high hopes for the future. Given the rapid increase in HD television sales and the hardwiring of those televisions to the Internet, Krolczyk believes there will be an increased demand for online news videos.
“Newspapers are going to be much more competitive with broadcast and television,” he said. “The advantage is going to go to the trusted sources of news. Local news will have a strong resurgence.” And online video advertisers will follow.
Whether it's ad sales, interactive or digital media, one theme is consistent at the Star Tribune: stay true to the audience. “We get nowhere if we don’t remain focused on our audience,” said Will Tacy. “We’re trying to have conversations with people,” said Dan Shorter. “I think we’re doing a good job of touching people’s passions.”
As for online video being a cure-all to a currently ailing newspaper industry, that remains to be seen, but the Star Tribune has managed to gain ground in a struggle that has consumed other comparable media outlets. That success can be attributed in small part to the recognition of video as a platform in the same way that print and online are marketable platforms, and to pursue successful ventures and partnerships accordingly.
“Part of it is getting away from the idea that there’s going to be a silver bullet, the one thing that cures all your ills,” said Tacy. “It’s really a thousand silver BB’s…It’s going to have to be a lot of smart innovations everywhere.”