WASHINGTON, DC — A presidential election cycle is a big deal for any US paper, but few more so than The Washington Post.
So WaPo, now under Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ ownership, is upping the game, building on its its text reporting heritage with even more video.
The difference from previous years? More kinds of video, distributed in more kinds of places, including at the top table.
“Live video has a place on the Washington Post homepage. We’ve built a bunch of custom modules that allow us to feature it prominently,” WaPo digital video executive producer Phoebe Connelly tells Beet.TV in this video interview.
But it’s not just about the homepage anymore. Now that people find content through all manner of social tendrils out there in the wild, Connelly has to think bigger.
“More and more the news game is … about making sure it’s available everywhere they might encounter your coverage,” she adds.
Recently-introduced live video takes WaPo readers inside campaign events like rallies and speeches, while they also allow viewers to interact with Post reporters on the campaign trail.
“It’s about making sure we never provide viewers with just one type of video – long-form, beautifully-shot, documentaries, portraits of voters, going deep on the issues, bringing to bear 360 cameras,” Connelly says.
“We have to put out all of them in concert, in time, working with each other. Video changes every year. That’s a great space for journalists to hang out.”
