The New York Times Adopts Online Video, Changing from Within
For the paper of record, adapting to new media meant changing a corporate culture entrenched in print.
Richard Tanner, senior producer of video at The New York Times, spoke at the recent Streaming Media West conference in Los Angeles, explaining how it took a major event for the paper's reporters to understand the value of instant publishing.
"The New York Times really was 'old media.' When they started out the digital venture, it was started kind of in its own silo in its own building. It was this web thing that we'll understand one day, but for the moment you just stay over there. Let us report and do what we do and create a newspaper, which we still do.
"Over time it evolved. I think one of the biggest spikes was obviously 9/11, which was a huge event and I think obviously for everyone it was an enormous traffic day, but I think it kind of brought our website to the forefront -- not only to our customers, but also to the organization. Reporters started realizing that 'Wow, we got the news out in real-time. They didn't wait until the next day to read it in the paper,'" Tanner said.
Having the paper online has also been important to overseas reporters and editors.
"Another interesting driver actually has been... First of all, we own the International Herald Tribune, which is based in Paris: it's a wholly owned subsidiary of our company. So we have a huge international ex-pat community that reads the paper online and all that. Our foreign correspondents started realizing that's how they see the paper -- as a website. They don't ever actually get the paper edition, because it's not sent over there, or it as at great cost," explained Tanner.
To learn how the Times' Web Video Unit started creating online original content in 2006, watch the full video below.
How Old Media Is Embracing Online Video and New Media
This session discusses how converging media technologies are redefining traditional distribution methods, how interactive and on-demand services are changing, and how entertainment and news video are being consumed on new platforms. Come hear from some of the leading publishers, broadcasters, and advertisers about the impact that video and new media is having upon their business models.
Moderator: Troy Dreier, Senior Associate Editor, StreamingMedia.com
Speaker: Richard Tanner, Senior Producer, Video, The New York Times
Speaker: Jeff Freund, VP, GM, Web Content Management Group, Limelight Networks
Speaker: Marco Parente, Sr. Product Manager, Video, The Nielsen Company
Speaker: Darren Feher, CEO, Conviva
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