10. Wildcard

 

News outlets prioritizing videos over text articles  

    In the past news outlets would publish written articles whenever news would break now news outlets create a video first story. These videos are often short clips or live streams that alert society about what is going on in the world around them. Now reporters and news outlets are creating short videos to post on social media platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, or Instagram. 

    This shift to prioritizing video content reflects consumer behaviors constantly evolving. Now people want their news to be given to them in an efficient way while also stacking true to the facts. Consumers would rather have their social media feed interrupted by a short video from news outlets versus reading an article about the event. Net-Media-Hub states "The immediate, dynamic nature of video allows for more immersive experience compared to traditional text-based articles, catering to modern viewers who prefer concise and engaging formats." 

News outlets who produce video content have seen a "significant" increase in user engagement. Outlets such as CNN and BBC have seen this shift within their user engagement through social media as well as on their website. 

    Considering that 54% of American say that they are getting their news from social media versus TV news it is no wonder that these media outlets are going to where their target audience is at. If a news outlet can catch a consumer attention, then they may can persuade them to view the outlets website or other videos on their social media platforms which will entire add to their overall engagement as well as the consumers trust in the news outlet. 

    Not only does this help catch consumers attention but it can also help in generating higher ad revenue then an article in text could generate. With a video there is opportunities to incorporate ads before or during videos. A video can also be sponsored by different businesses in the area. As storm and tornado season hits the south, consumers in Arkansas may turn to live videos of meteorologist to get updates concerning the weather. An example of this would be the Arkansas Storm Team live weather coverage as well as Zachary Hall live coverage that does not stop coverage for advertisements but instead places them in a corner of the screen. This helps not only to get consumers the information they are seeking but also to put a highlight on sponsors. 

   

     However, with news outlets moving to prioritizing video content on social media it also comes with the risk of influencers and creators acting as "news explainers" where they take a clip from a news outlet and then try to explain what they think is going on. A lot of the time these "news explainers" do not have all the facts and they may unintentionally, or intentionally, spread misinformation concerning news stories. 
   

    In conclusion, in order to keep up with the digital age news outlets are shifting to producing short video clips that tell society what they need to know about what is going on in the world around them. While it does have some drawbacks ultimately it greatly benefits both the consumers and the news outlet. It gives consumers the ability to access news easily and at their fingertips.