Web 2.0, the new Internet gold rush, is all about social networking, user-generated content, and online video. It's also the next great opportunity for newspapers, writes
Editor & Publisher.
That's right--newspapers. How is that? Because local opportunities abound with video and user-generated content. For one thing,
E&P says YouTube and MySpace often lack context; 80 percent of
the information on these sites is aimed at an inside group of people. Clips from a random wedding mean nothing to most, but on a newspaper site, where people presumably still go to find local news,
video from a local wedding or a high school basketball game would be a nice addendum to a news story. Local papers attract a local audience looking for local news. Context problem solved--and there
would be no chance of copyrighted content leaking onto the site due to the rigorous screening process of professional papers. Other ideas: a competition for a "reader clip of the week" or something
that would also appeal to younger kids used to voting for their favorites on shows like "American Idol." That could be extended to a high school sports "play of the week," etc. If you think about it,
some of the most memorable news video has come from regular folks with a camcorder at the right time: Rodney King, Sept. 11, tsunamis, tornadoes.
E&P says it's only natural that local clips
should eventually find their way to local newspaper sites.
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