US: Star-Ledger launches live, daily webcast

Posted by Sarah Schewe on July 29, 2008 at 9:57 AM

As BuzzMachine blogger, Jeff Jarvis, writes, "Let's get this straight, people: Local TV news sucks. It is no model for what newspapers or anyone should do in video online. It's cheesy. It's unbearable."

And so, the Star-Ledger (New Jersey) recently broadcast their first live, daily news show on nj.com, but without falling into the "cheesy" or "unbearable" category, the Star-Ledger has created something new - video news, yes, but television news, no.

"The idea from the start was to have somebody in and of the newsroom and after auditions they found a perfect reporter Jersey-guy host, Brian Donohue. He just talks with you and they show the stories the thing-formerly-known-as-a-paper's new video journalists have made. In the rehearsals he has also been interviewing people in the newsroom via a TV screen; I'd rather have him just sit down with the real people and talk. But that aside, I think the tone, style, and content are great," says Jarvis.

Source: BuzzMachine