1. What is the biggest challenge in teaching videojournalism to already established print journalists; what did the print journalists themselves find most difficult about learning to use the different medium?

David Dunkley Gyimah:
As writers the paradigm shift newspaper journalists undergo is learning to understand visual narrative and allow it to become an integral part to drive a story. Firstly, it's more aggressive. In fact it's closer to photojournalism, so the visual narrative construct can be more dramatic. Secondly, it’s more personalized with greater leeway to be creative in marrying script and pictures. Your interviewing style may also change so you "cook only what you can consume". If you're only going to use a 30 second clip, there's little point, unless it’s designed, to interview on camera for five minutes. In one scenario that played itself out on the course, an interviewee, a policeman role-playing, became somewhat agitated and uneasy at the line of questioning from the journalists. Capturing that on camera whilst abstaining from filling the dead space with questions illustrated how powerful visual story telling can be.

Paul Hartley:
It's important that newspapers win the hearts and minds of journalists before embarking on video journalism. At the Mail the editor and myself did presentations to all members of the editorial team explaining what we
planned to do and why it was essential to the development of the business. The response from the staff was overwhelmingly positive with more than 20 people volunteering for the first round of training. On a practical side the most difficult skill to master is speed. It's important that the videos are turned round quickly if you are going to fully integrate it into the editorial department.

2. Are you pleased with the results of the diploma in videojournalism the Hull Daily Mail journalists completed?

David Dunkley Gyimah:
I’m satisfied the dip-program meets the basics of VJism and core areas of TV making.
Over a lengthier period, it would be of greater interest to introduce a step-up course e.g. advance module with supervision within the client’s newsroom. Several of the newspaper journalists said they couldn’t watch television news without seeing obvious flaws. In itself that's something. Being able to shoot and produce obviously is the real fruit of their labour.

Paul Hartley:
None of our reporters had used a video camera before they went on the course. In my case, I'd only just learned to text! The course gave us the basic skills we needed to make videos of local news stories. We were able to tweak the syllabus as we learned so that we achieved our goal of being able to go live the first day we returned to the office.

3. Do you think that the new generation of newspaper journalists will have to be multi-skilled; equally capable of mastering news production in multiple media: video, audio, online, print?

David Dunkley Gyimah:
Each era produces a new set of technological gifts and forms that we embrace, sometimes reluctantly, to make tasks easier. The level of convergence, Marshal McLuhan's Global media utopia at play, is reaching a year zero where we might ask ourselves if there is any sense in distinguishing between print, television or multi-skilled journalism. Rather become a jack of all trades as well as a master of some. Do you have a blog? Can you podcast? Can you operate a camera? How’s your HTML and Flash skill? How good are you at link building? These are some of the questions employers are now asking, because in part as we've seen, the participating audience, citizen journalists, are providing their own answers and forcing news execs to sit up and listen. To my Masters student I say anything that improves your marketable status is worth pursuing.

Paul Hartley:
First and foremost reporters are there to gather stories, help the newspaper campaign on issues that matter to its readers and uncover issues others would rather keep under wraps. Content is king. However, you can't
ignore the massive shift in the way people like to digest their news. The internet and Sky TV have changed the media landscape beyond all recognition. Journalists need to be comfortable with that changing landscape and adapt their approach without losing sight of the fact that the quality of the content is what matters most. I foresee a future where reporters are as comfortable with a video and microphone as they are with a notebook and pen and sub editors are equally at home with putting news online as they are putting it in the paper. 

4. Why do you think that regional UK papers, rather than national ones, have taken the initiative in beginning to provide video material on their websites?

David Dunkley Gyimah:
Traditionally regional newspapers have to a greater extent, just like local radio, always been fertile ground for innovation and multi-skilled training. It could just be it’s early days and the execs are watching. If it proves to bring value and can be monetized, who knows. But my guess is if the nationals are podcasting, we’re not too far off from video becoming common practice.

Paul Hartley:
I'm not sure that is the case. As far as I am aware the only regional newspapers offering video on line are ourselves and the Manchester Evening News. The Sun already has news video on it homepage and the Guardian recently put Ricky Gervais online. The trend is gathering pace and in future online video will be the norm for all newspapers - regional and national.

5. Do you think newspaper and other media organisation websites will begin to solicit and possibly pay for citizen video material?

David Dunkley Gyimah:
To a degree some newspapers/organisations already pay a nominal fee to tipsters, or the public providing information to stories related to crime, fraud etc. But the implications for a steady stream of citizen- shot video, offers new challenges, ethical, technical and legal. Two men alleged to have been part of last year’s London July bombing were filmed by a member of the public, who started a mini-bid between the networks and hence made a tidy sum. The footage was an exclusive so it was feast or famine. In a scenario where what’s on offer is good quality and has a high news quotient, then yes, organizations will pay. For the moment, most citizen journalist contributors appear happy just to see their footage and credit on a credible news site, but just as a range of photo agencies have sprung up to value and recompense the contribution of cjs, so I think video will attract similar agencies in the near future. Two thoughts, that small websites could offer tips to readers online on the basics of shooting video. I provide such info on one of my sites set up for solojos: www.mrdot.co.uk and the other, London doesn't have a 24 hour news video station. If you've fairly deepish pockets and a business plan that include CJs in the news gathering plan you could be onto a winner.

Paul Hartley:
Citizen journalism is already with us and will only get bigger. TV stations regularly carry footage shot by members of the public on their home video cameras or mobile phones. As competition for this content increases you will see media organisations making a bigger effort to ensure they get it first, this will of course mean that money will sometimes change hands.
 
6. Do you think there is a business model by which newspapers can gain profit from offering video material on their websites?

David Dunkley Gyimah:
Absolutely, as we've seen advertising continues to grow online, with the migration of brand ad spends offline. But there is a also a rich communal local level of advertising eschewed by agencies, which video driven brands attracting good traffic may be able to tap into. The model that appears to have taken off is to doughnut reports with ads up front. To the consternation of some viewers, this is plain wrong, but it’s a method of indexing ads to good stories. Good content will attract businesses looking to distribute as well as play. The Ipod for music has found a huge market; the more quality video content produced may likewise attract greater Video-pod participation.  P2P may also set up some form of agency approach to distributing newsworthy video online. Furthermore, digital television’s integration with the net [analogue switch off is imminent in the US], linked to some kind of video adapter means it’s conceivable you’ll be reading, no, watching newspapers’ video on the box. In this instance a more traditional television-advertising model would work. So newspapers primed for those changes will be the initial beneficiaries.

Paul Hartley:
No newspaper in the country is going to sanction massive amounts of expenditure on videos unless they can see a long term benefit. The important thing is to keep the costs down at the outset and then build on the new skills to open up new areas of revenue. This means integrating video journalism into the existing set-up rather than establishing expensive new departments with lots of staff. At the Mail reporters are multi-skilled so they can cover a story for the paper and also make a video for the website. I can't ever envisage newspapers being able to charge users to view news videos but the videos may make the wesbite more attractive to advertisers.

7. As for citizen media will vlogging (video blogging) become the norm?

David Dunkley Gyimah:
I believe the vlogging community if I can loosely call it that is leading the way again for traditional media to take note. Sites like New Media Musings and Amanda Congdon's Rocket Boom in the US attract big hits and high google rankings. Some execs and academics are a bit sniffy because it’s not hard news presented in that straight-laced fashion. I think it’s great. I am excited by the idea and practice that we may soon be hyper marking video in the same way we link to text. The web is about 2 years or thereabouts from the magic optimum 8mb download which is the data rate for DVD quality television. This should herald a further seismic shift in video interest. The BBC’s video player is due soon, a cacophony of IPTVs, “ultra” local television, Community TV, HDV Cameras at affordable prices, new propriety software for encoded video – all these suggest video vlogging has a healthy future.

Paul Hartley:
The only barrier to vlogging is the technology. In the not too distant future I'm sure it will be as everyday as blogging is now. The challenge for newspapers is to ensure that they are the platform of choice for vloggers.

8. Multimedia convergence and multi-skilled journalists were first touted as a priority for newspapers a number of years ago (circa 2001) but the project didn't advance much. Why do you think it might work this time around?

David Dunkley Gyimah:
- Broadband carrying video, and becoming affordable and commonplace.
- Stats that illustrate people spend longer on the web using broadband than they did dial up. So if you build it they will come and stay longer.
- Multi-skilling is no longer a word that attracts shock and awe, criticism, yes, but it’s not an alien word.
-  Entry levels for video shooting HDV, superior video and editing software have been drastically lowered.
- There is a more informed public who are themselves pushing and influencing the content of traditional media.
- Greater competition from non-traditional sources driving accessibility.
- An acceptance in newsrooms that fantastic work can be accomplished by integrating journalism and multimedia e.g. Newsday’s the Cost of war  - A Flash presentation examining the US’s involvement in Iraq received 12 million hits in one day. Similarly, work by Naka Nathaniel for the New York Times acts as a beacon attracting others to emulate.
- Greater knowledge transfer. We’re having this debate at a far more advanced level than we did back in 2001. "Once a new technology comes in social milieu it cannot cease to permeate that milieu until every institution is saturated" _ McLuhan may not be wrong after all.
 
Paul Hartley:
The crucial change since 2001 is the technology and in particular the growing popularity of broadband. Without broadband people can't watch videos on line. The delivery now is so simple in comparison to 2001 that technology no longer forms a major barrier to entry. Put that alongside the massive change in reader habits and it's impossible for newspapers to ignore the need to become multi-media organisations. Newspapers realise that increasingly people will access information in the way that suits them best.

Sources: The Hull Daily Mail, The Press Association, see David Dunkley Gyimah's site www.viewmagazine.tv