WASHINGTON, DC — If you just have to be at the next Donald Trump rally, The Washington Post back have your back.
The newspaper now publishes not just regular 2D video but is also shooting video in 360-degree format from certain key events, like Democratic and Republican election rallies.
In this 2D video interview, WaPo strategic initiatives director Jeremy Gilbert tells Beet.TV that the publisher is publishing to its own audience and YouTube’s, but could soon go through Facebook, too.
“Right now, we’re focused on putting the video on the Washington Post website, by posting the video on the YouTube website,” he said. “That said, we’re also looking at Facebook as a platform – we want to take these stories where the audience is.”
That is timely. Facebook, which has an alliance with Samsung’s Gear VR device and earlier acquired the maker of the Oculus Rift headset, is currently hiring for a news and media content lead to acquire 360-degree news content for its platforms.
Sky News of the UK is also amongst the news organizations pushing 360 news content through the social network.
WaPo’s Gilbert says the format is unlike conventional video. It allows us to take our reader where our reporters go,” he says. “We’re asking them to jump in, look around and see what we saw. 360 video lets the user choose what to look at.”
And that means a set of new production considerations – up to treble the number of producers involved, and a camera setup that can involve a rig of up to 12 cameras. Depending on the cameras used, those shots may be automatically stitched together, or they may require editing by staff.
360 video is still finding its feet, and producers are still learning the format. Consumers are likely farther behind still. What this opportunity emerges as is as yet uncertain. but one thing’s for sure – plenty of people are getting their feet wet.
