3 ways reporters can start using video in their storytelling

Video comes in all shapes, forms and sizes today but some of the most engaging footage comes from reporters.

It’s not a secret that video is a critical platform and product for media companies today because audiences are loudly telling us they love consuming it and advertisers can see the attention that their potential customers are spending on it.

Reporter-driven video, especially the vertical variety — told through Reels and Lives — makes for some of the most-watched video because the audience is hearing or seeing from a reporter in a way they typically don’t.

The audience gets to travel with reporters and gets to learn what it’s like to live in their shoes through their reporting and assignments.

I want to share a few examples on why reporter-driven video is so important with some examples you can use for inspiration.

1. Summarize your story in short takes

Once a reporter has covered a story, simply summarize it in a few short videos that you can stitch together.

These should be short videos (under 60 seconds) and should include the most important facts and decisions that came out of the reporting.

If you were to describe the story to a friend or spouse, how would you simplify what happened? That’s how you should consider what to talk about in your video. Keep it to the most important details.

Here is an example of a reporter at The Salt Lake Tribune explaining her story and another of a reporter at the Star Tribune breaking down his story.

There’s nothing overly produced about these but both are using screenshots from their story to help visualize it, which really works..

2. Show what you’re seeing and experiencing

Whether it’s a breaking news story or coverage from a golf tournament, providing readers access to what you’re experiencing as a reporter, has a lot of value in it.

Here’s an example of what a reporter covering a major golf tournament captured and built into a Reel.

Think if you were getting photos from an event, what would you want to show? For that golf example, you would want to go beyond just the action on the golf course and that’s why that Reel works so well. They are just short videos that capture the essence of what it was like there.

I also love in that video that the reporter can be seen with a sandwich, it helps humanize them and of course, it’s fun to see the food available at an event like this.

This idea works with really any story where there is activity happening: Festivals, sporting events and openings.

3. Just talk to your readers

This is an example of an editor explaining changes to a magazine but there are so many other ways that reporters can talk to their audience through using Reels:

• Before you start reporting on a story, create a Reel asking your audience what they would like to have you answer in the story.

• Create a format for specific kinds of stories you can tell on a Reel. For example, if you are a government reporter, build a Reel after you have covered a meeting in a 3 things to know format. Each thing can be a different decision that the city council passed.

When I was co-founding Check Out DFW, I created Reels on things that I knew about the real estate market. It was an easy way to report out to the advance on trends in real estate. Here is an example.

• Take readers on a rundown of what you covered in a week or what you are planning to cover in short videos that you could stitch together about each story. As a news organization you could also do a rundown of everything to know each day in a Reel like this publisher does.

A bonus idea is to take your morning newsletter (especially if it’s in narrative format) and package the content into a morning Reel of what you need to know.

We can help

Contact me today. I’d love to get to work with you on a video strategy for your company. Email me at david@davidarkinconsulting.com.