FutureWire - futurism and emerging technology

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

One-Man "Video Journalists" Coming to Local TV News

San Francisco's KRON-TV will reportedly migrate from two-person field crews to solitary "video journalists" who will report, record and edit their material themselves. KRON is the first major-market TV station to make such a move.

The switch is largely driven by economics, and it's unclear how many crews will be transitioned or how quickly. Also unclear is how the quality of the finished product will compare with that of conventional field crews... or whether audiences will even care.

The move illustrates one more way that technology is making it easier to gather information -- whether one is an independent "citizen journalist" or a professional TV news operation. It also represents one tactic that local TV newsrooms can take to cut costs and remain relevant. Ultimately, only time will tell if KRON is a pacesetter in this area, or if VJs prove only to be an interesting experiment.

Source: Lost Remote