Chapter 8 of Journalism Next concerns a topic that is pertinent to any modern newsman: video.
Video has, of course, been an important element of journalism for a long time. Beginning in the 1950s millions of Americans received nightly broadcasts from ABC, CBS, and NBC. The first major conflict to take place in the video era, the Vietnam War, was described as a "living-room conflict" because images of its carnage arrived in American homes every night by way of television.
The action in Vietnam consequently sparked the largest anti-war movement in U.S. history and became deeply unpopular with the public.
In the digital age, the power of television had been democratized and the means of production given to the masses. Video-sharing site YouTube, which launched in 2005, has revolutionized both journalism and video production by allowing any user with a mobile device to upload footage at any time.
Briggs notes that "by mid 2009, YouTube reported that 20 hours of footage was being uploaded...every minute." (Briggs, 209)
Beyond providing a journalist with a wide-reaching platform, video is more attractive to potential consumers of journalism. A video embedded in an online article can convey essential information in an easy way to a large audience.
And video journalism is no longer the expensive hindrance it once was: the Flip Cam from Cisco retails for $130 and is slightly larger than a classic iPod.
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