BBC News utilizes two types of video reporting: at scene live streaming and more packaged, documentary-like content with voiceovers and interviews. For this week's news track, I decided to find and analyze one of each to assess BBC's effectiveness in video reporting.
The first video story I stumbled upon was BBC's live and breaking news report on the explosion of a US rocket that was launched with supplies for six astronauts at the International Space Station. BBC intended just to cover the rocket launch, but were smart in using video to do so, as I don't think pictures would have given the same "inside look" with such a visual occurrence. Obviously, they set up the report without knowing that the rocket would explode, but I found the reporter's approach after the fact very calm and put together. She took a step back, allowing for the video and audio from the control center to speak for itself, but knew when she had waited long enough and didn't hesitate to give background on the issue.
The video was also enhanced later on the website by a full length article, complete with pictures, that allowed for more information on a piece of breaking news. Obviously, the reporter didn't have any information when the rocket exploded, but BBC ensured complete coverage of the issue by filling in these blank spots with the accurate information as it filtered in.
However, this was one area that BBC fell short in when announcing Victoria Beckham's spot on Britain's Top 100 Entrepreneurs through a documentary-like, packaged video. There is another post announcing and providing more detail behind Beckham's accomplishment, but the video and this article are in two different places, meaning viewers have to switch pages to get from one thing to the next. To reduce this "hopping around" effect and to keep viewers on a page longer, BBC should have embedded the video onto the original, longer article.
Additionally, when clicking on a video about Victoria Beckham winning an award, I expected to see Victoria Beckham. Instead, the video is entirely man on the street interviews intertwined with footage from her London store, with Beckham only appearing for a 2-second, one sentence clip that is ultimately interrupted and cut off by the reporter. While I appreciated the MOS interviews and the documentary feel, which gave me a sense of the public's reactions to her award, I also wanted to see a little bit more of Beckham, whether that be through her own interview or just clips of her at different events, working in the store, etc.
All in all, the website has a few kinks that they should consider when producing video content.
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