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| EXTENDED
INTERVIEW: BRIAN GILMORE |
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 May 2005  |
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Brian Gilmore, managing producer of online news for The News Journal of Wilmington, Dela., discusses how the newspaper's Web site and daily Webcasts help meet the changing needs of news consumers and broaden the paper's audience. The NewsHour Media Unit is funded by grants from the Pew Charitable Trusts and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
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TERENCE SMITH: Tell me about what you're doing and, and then secondly,
why. And, in what ways, other than the newspaper, are you getting the
information out? BRIAN GILMORE: Well, the main thing that we're doing is we're trying to bring what TV brings to an audience to the Web. So, we've geared it towards a Web audience. We're producing a three- to four-minute newscast just like you would
see on the local news station, but we're gearing it towards our audience.
So, we're going out. We're shooting video stories and we're presenting
it just like you would see on TV, but it's available through a click
of the mouse. TERENCE SMITH: To what degree is the reporting intermingled for the
paper and for what you're doing? BRIAN GILMORE: It's very much so and we rely heavily on our newsroom,
which is a big benefit to us starting out as a newspaper -- TERENCE SMITH: Right. BRIAN GILMORE: -- and going online. We have a huge base of reporters and they cover all kinds of topics across the whole state. And it's, you know, such a big area, we couldn't do it ourselves. So, we rely on them to gather information for stories. We'll use them right out of the paper. We'll use their information
during the day. It will help us track down information on stuff we're
trying to chase down if we can't get there ourselves. So, it's a total
commingling of both sides. TERENCE SMITH: Do you put the paper's reporters on air? BRIAN GILMORE: Sometimes we do. We have a few segments where we'll say there's a sports event happening. You know, when the Eagles went to the Superbowl. Well, they're our local team here. So, we had one of our sports reporters come up to the desk and Patti [Pettite] will talk to him and, you know, find out the scoop, someone who has inside information with the team. |
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| The use of online newscasts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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TERENCE SMITH: This notion of having in effect a television newscast
on the Web site, where did it come from? Was it asked for, in the sense,
by the viewers of the Web site or what, what's the thinking behind it? BRIAN GILMORE: Well, I think it is a combination of things. First of
all, video is something that's still, you know, advancing on the Web.
So, it started out as a way to give something extra on our Web site.
And what we're able to bring is just to put up news-style stories on
the Web for people to watch. But the reason behind it is that, the market we're in is very compatible for this specifically, because there are no TV stations around here. We're fed by the Philadelphia market. So, Philadelphia local TV stations
have a bureau here, but there's no, you know, local television stations
here in Delaware. So, we had a market where we knew we could reach people with Delaware-specific
news that they couldn't really get anywhere else, at least, not the
amount that we could give them. TERENCE SMITH: Right. So, how long have you been doing it? How many
people are watching it and what's been the reaction? BRIAN GILMORE: We started in the beginning of October and so far, the
reaction has been very good. We pick up things here and there when we're
out in the field. We hear that people are watching. We hear how much
they like to see it. We hear, you know, how great it is; that it's local
Delaware news. It started out about by tracking the Web numbers, which you can do
now. We started out getting about 4,000 people per day watching the
broadcasts. Now, that has grown over the past six months up to close
to 7,000 a day. So, the numbers are going up. TERENCE SMITH: That's 7,000 watching the broadcast versus how many
visiting the Web site each day? BRIAN GILMORE: Well, there's a couple of ways you could say how many
people are coming to the Web site everyday. We average about 40,000 unique visitors that come to our Web site everyday,
7,000 of which are taking advantage of this broadcast online. TERENCE SMITH: Um-hum. And do they react to it react to it online?
Is there any interactivity to it? BRIAN GILMORE: There, there hasn't been anything directly related to the Webcast itself. There are ways through our Web site to react to everything. There's
ways to e-mail reporters about the news that they read. There's discussion
boards where people can jump on and, you know, discuss either news that's
happening or the way it's reported or anything like that. And there's
ways you can just e-mail Delaware Online and let us know what you think
about new things. So far, we haven't had an overwhelming reaction one way or the other
towards the Webcast itself. All we know is that more and more people
seem to be watching it. TERENCE SMITH: So, people can set this up, can they, to view it everyday
almost automatically? BRIAN GILMORE: Sure. When you come to our site at 9 o'clock in the morning or at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, this broadcast will launch automatically on your screen. So, as soon as you hit Delaware Online, you'll see Patti and she'll start telling you the news. But it's also available -- that happens for an hour. So, between 9 and 10, between 4 and 5, it launches automatically. Any other time of the day, you can go on and click on and watch it at your leisure, too, which I think is an advantage. We're gearing this towards people who are at their workplace, that
don't have time to watch a full 30-minute newscast. They might not have
time for that, but they may have time, sitting at their desk, before
they leave to go home, to watch a three- to four-minute top video news. TERENCE SMITH: And, indeed, is that where most of the viewers are,
at work? BRIAN GILMORE: We think so. Obviously, with video, a high speed Internet line is essential to get the quality that you can see on TV. Workplaces have high speed lines. Of course, broadband is reaching out in homes now, too. So, I think we're reaching both audiences, but we know a lot of them are at work. We hear while we're out in the field that people are watching us at work and checking out what happens. |
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| A new direction for the news industry | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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TERENCE SMITH: Does it surprise you that the newspaper has gone in
this direction or do you see it as sort of a logical extension of what's
going on in the news business? BRIAN GILMORE: I think it has to happen. I think that this is just where the industry is going. I think every news organization is combining as much as they can to reach a bigger audience. You can't reach people in a newspaper with video, but (if) newspapers
have a Web site, you can reach them online. I think it was just bound
to happen. I got into this business because I figured it would happen. So, I'm not surprised of the reaction we're getting. I'm not surprised that more people are watching. I think people want these types of things at their leisure and I think
we've provided that for them. TERENCE SMITH: Um-hum. Now, do you have other means, other platforms,
as they call them, to get either the essence of this Webcast or anything
else out? Is there podcasting going on? What, what else is the newspaper
doing? BRIAN GILMORE: Well, yeah, we have various things like that. We have a weekly entertainment magazine that the newspaper puts out as well. And that's available online and they do a podcast now where they discuss
entertainment things, music, movies, stuff like that, bands that are
playing in the area or across the state. They have a radio show that you can just download on to your iPod or
whatever thing you have. TERENCE SMITH: Is this a radio show that is going out over a radio
station owned by the or is it specifically generated for podcasting? BRIAN GILMORE: Right, generated specifically to go on our Web site,
so that people can come on, download it and listen to it when they have
time. TERENCE SMITH: Right. So, how quickly can they download how much material? BRIAN GILMORE: The podcast itself is probably 20 minutes long. It's
downloaded in pretty much an instant if you have a high speed line and
then you can listen to that whenever you want. However quickly we can
get it online, you can download it and listen to it. TERENCE SMITH: Any other examples include -- you have a, you have a
service for younger people as well? Spark? BRIAN GILMORE: Spark. Yes, that's the magazine I'm talking about that
comes out weekly and it's all entertainment oriented. So, that's available
for a younger audience, available online, available in print versions
and the podcast is part of that. There's lots of ways people can be involved in our site. We have blogs
now, too, which are becoming popular and people can comment on those
blogs. And they're done by reporters in our newsroom as well. TERENCE SMITH: How many? BRIAN GILMORE: Four, I think we have going now. And they cover a variety of topics. We have a pop culture blog. We have a political blog. We have a sports blog. And they're updated daily by these reporters and are available so that people can comment whatever they want. If they have anything to say back, they can say it and it's done instantly. |
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| The changing needs of news consumers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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what do you think is the overall impact of all of this on either the paper
or, maybe more importantly, the consumers? BRIAN GILMORE: Well, I don't know that we're sure yet. I think this Webcast itself is so new, I think we're still trying to figure out the impact. We're gearing it to help everybody, to help the paper, to help us, because we can offer all of these things and bring in more people. As long as we get them from somewhere, you know, that's the goal. If more people start doing similar things, if more newspapers start
producing Webcasts, you'll see how much of an impact it is. But I think
that story is still to be told. TERENCE SMITH: And this comes at a time when newspaper circulation
nationally is declining. Is it in part a reaction to that? This outlet gives us a way to bring more people in. As circulation
goes down, our Web site hits continue to go up. So, we know that people
still want their news. They're getting it somehow. It just so happens,
in this day and age, they're getting it through the Web. If we find more ways, like a Webcast, to bring more people in and get
more people interested in the news we want to tell, then these reporters
can still tell their stories. We can tell our stories and we can reach
that audience. TERENCE SMITH: Um-hum. To what degree do you think this has to do with
changes in people's personal lifestyle and the amount of time that they
have available to them to consume the news that you say is important
to them? BRIAN GILMORE: Yeah, I think it has everything to do with how much
time people have and how much options are out there. I mean, there are
so many cable satellite stations now. There are so many -- everything
for people to go to. I think people have less and less time for any
one specific thing. And that's the reason we're making this newscast short and to the point and it's because we know people don't have time, because we can check. And we know people don't want video for more than three to four minutes online. So, we know people's time is important to them. If we can give them something in three minutes that they can't get
from a full TV show, then we feel like we can have an advantage over
a television station maybe; that we know our audience and we know how
to keep them on board. So, I think it has everything to do with, you know, the time people
have. That's why we're doing this. We know people have less time, so
we're giving them something they can fit in. TERENCE SMITH: Is there any evidence that you know of that any one
of these platforms is bringing more readers to the print paper? I mean, one of the purposes for some news organizations of some of
these outlets is to bring new readers to the paper, the original product.
Is that your purpose or is that the result? BRIAN GILMORE: It's not the purpose of what we're doing. I think something that's important to every aspect of this organization -- which is print, Web and video -- is to make sure people are aware that they have all of these options. So, we made sure that, in our Webcast, we remind people to buy a newspaper.
Now, whether or not that gets people to buy a newspaper, it gets those
dwindling numbers up. I don't know that we ever, you know, expect any great change out of
that. But, it's essential for us to keep reminding people that these
options are out there and because we're doing that, because in the paper
it says go watch a video story of this online, that may get more people
to the Web site. So, the numbers overall for our organization seem to
be going up. So, that cross-promotion is really important. TERENCE SMITH: And when you say the numbers overall, you're referring
to? BRIAN GILMORE: Referring to all -- the Web site, the newspaper, the
combination of all those things that we provide. TERENCE SMITH: Right. BRIAN GILMORE: More people are looking at those things than they were
before. Maybe that the paper is going down, but the Web site numbers
are going up. TERENCE SMITH: Right. You mentioned that there is a limit to how much
people will watch, even video online. Where is that limit in your head? BRIAN GILMORE: Well, the limit in my head is, for some reason, at three minutes. That's because we've looked at some numbers. We used to do longer format packages like you would see on TV and we
ranged them between two minutes and five minutes. And we could see where
the numbers dropped off and we knew no one was watching longer than
three minutes. I think that's the attention span. For some, for whatever
reason, people refused to give more than that amount of time for video. If someone is at home and they happen to see something longer, they may give it more time. But in my mind, it's three minutes and we should keep it to that, otherwise, we'll lose people. TERENCE SMITH: So, you can tell the story, but you better tell it quickly? BRIAN GILMORE: That, that's exactly right. |
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| Customized and personalized news | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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TERENCE SMITH: That's very interesting. It may have to do, it seems
-- speculation on my part -- with the medium itself, the tolerance for
people in what is called a sit-up-straight medium -- BRIAN GILMORE: Um-hum. TERENCE SMITH: -- that is limited, as opposed to an easy chair medium,
which is the traditional television set. BRIAN GILMORE: Right, and when people buy a paper, generally, they
have more time. They sit back and they leaf through the paper and they
have time to read it. On a Web site, there's all these links available. You want to get stuff fast. And on our Web site, there's so many things you can get. The Webcast is just part of that. So, to think that some is going to watch the Webcast on our site for
a half an hour is crazy. They can click on links. They can read stories.
This is just part of that. So, and every one of those takes only a little
bit of time. TERENCE SMITH: Right. BRIAN GILMORE: You can read a few paragraphs of each story. You can
watch the video to go along with it and still not take up the full half
hour. TERENCE SMITH: So, it has to do really with two things. It has to do
with limited time and also a desire, if you sense it, by the reader/viewer
to make his or her own decisions as to what they're going to watch -- BRIAN GILMORE: Right. TERENCE SMITH: -- and how they're going to watch it? BRIAN GILMORE: Right, and that's the great thing about the Web. People
have the choice to click on what they want. They're not at the mercy
of, you know, a newscast and what's still ahead or, or not. They're
here to click on the things they want to learn about. BRIAN GILMORE: Well, there's a couple of things that go along with
photo galleries. We have galleries that you can't get in a newspaper
where we'll take several shots from one event and people can quickly
leaf through on our site, click through several pictures of one event. We also have things where -- say, there's a big storm in Wilmington and there's people out there taking pictures of the damage or the repair work or whatever. People can take a picture. They can send it in to our site and we can create a community gallery of photos that people have taken around Delaware and put that together. And people can see their own work on our site. So, that's another way to, to get people interested in what we're doing and to actually feel a part of it, too.
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