Can Video Save the Print Industry?

A panel discussion today at the Digital News Affairs 2008 video journalism conference in Belgium attempted to answer the question: Can video save the print industry?

Moderator Richard Gizbert from Al Jazeera International speaks with:
Edward Roussel, Digital Editor, Telegraph (U.K.) Media Group;
Bas Broekhuizen, Editor, Volkskrant TV;
Charles de Broede, Online chief Editor, de Telegraaf;
Adriaan Bouten, Sr. VP and Chief Information Officer, McGraw-Hill;
and Joris Van Heukelom, CEO, Ilse Media

You can hear the hour-long discussion by clicking here.

Many of the panelists agreed that the culture in a newspaper's executive suite was the biggest stumbling block to video. And the difficulty in selling ads is a problem. There is some optimism that targeted advertising in video will be profitable.

But how to achieve success was still an unkown. Charles de Broede from de Telegraaf advocates for live streams and more of a TV model, while Joris Van Heukelom of Ilse Media says to give up the head of the long tail to broadcast and put your resources in the long tail of searchable video.

Adriaan Bouten noted that their business-to-business subscripton videos on construction techniques were doing well financially but that biz-to-consumer video was not.

Apparently, the question of whether video can save the print industry is not an easy one to answer.