The End of UK Media - November 27th 2008. BBC's Video Journalism Revolution

On November the 27th 2008, a decision, which will amount to a seismic disruption to UK media, principally newspapers, will take place.

The BBC will announce whether it will introduce hyperlocal televsion.

It's huge. A real game changer. And for the newspapers, the end of media.

Why?

• Because few newspapers can succeed against the might of the BBC and BBC local will be formidable. They already have video journalists for the 65 or so broadband sites.
• Even though many newspapers are doing video, when it comes down to it, the BBC believes viewers will choose them above a local newspaper who's just started video making.
• The decision, for once, overtly legitimises the use of video journalists as a news force.

In 2005 precisely because of this, The Press Association, with the support of UK regional newspapers, embraced video journalism.

Earlier this year, I interviewed Peter Horrocks, Head of Multimedia News at the BBC.

The decision will be an explosive one and judging from this link it looks like it will get the green light.

Video Journalism Revolution on Viewmagazine.tv

Video Journalism Revolution is a personal and fairly comprehensive account of Video Journalism in the UK.

It includes:

1992 BBC Reportage - we shot with Hi8s but did not call it Videojounalism

1994 Channel One TV - in which I have located the doc

1997 Channel 4 News where I did some Vjing and made some international stories

1997 Taking Video journalism to Africa ( Ghana and South Africa)

2000+ Speaking at the BBC's Nations and Region's launch of videojournalism

Training the first newspaper VJs in the UK and the Telegraph's super multimedia VJs with the Press Association

to advising the Financial Times.

In between I have used video journalism working with Lennox Lewis the heavyweight boxer, Making ads screened on CNN International with John Staton Productions ( ex Saatchi head of TV), a deep wreck expedition in the Dardanelles, conflict reportage in Ghana and for Nato.

And recently Camp video journalism in Chicago and soon in Virtual Platform worlds.

There are aspects of news making that directly feed into Video journalism's swift turn around and editing on the fly, which I learned working at World Wide Television News agency, now APTV.

They had the formula for packaging down to the second. I have recently located some of those foreign stories and will post.

Meanwhile on Viewmgazine.tv it's the 1st of January 1996 and I have drawn the short straw. Channel One was so about multi skilling that many Vjs also presented the news.

There's no one behind the camera by the way and you controlled the auto cue with your foot.

On this package Jon Gilbert, now a much respected reporter on ITV gives gives a good illustration of a videojournalist on top of his game reporting from Trafalgar Square.

See what you think?