E-Media Tidbits

nabshow.com The National Assoc. of Broadcasters meets in Las Vegas next week. What should be on their mind about online media?

The annual convention of the National Association of Broadcasters is coming up next week: Apr. 16-19 in Las Vegas. Media consultant Terry Heaton asked what Tidbits would like to say to the broadcasting industry at this time in history, as part of a special edition of his company's Media 2.0 newsletter.

Since Tidbits is about online news, and since the NAB conference is sure to attract people involved in broadcast news (Tim Russert is speaking, and there is a session entitled "[TV] News: More, Less, or More for Less"), I thought it would be a good idea to get the Tidbits team to help respond to Terry's question.

Here is what three of us at Tidbits wish more broadcast news operations would "get" about online media:

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Tish Grier: "Be interactive, but don't 'harvest' user-generated content (and then hold on to it in perpetuity). That was what Clear Channel's Steven Spendlove of Clear Channel suggested for a Santa Rosa TV station in February. That's not fair to contributors, communities, or to broadcast news. TV stations could become aggregators of local content in ways that respect local content and the folks who produce. Link to good local content.

"Small local broadcasters also might want to do more outreach to community access stations. Help them shape better community-created programming. Those resources are often woefully underutilized."

Alan Abbey: "Full-text and 'raw' video/audio content on stations' sites would be great to see -- press conferences, events, etc. They probably leave 90 percent of what they have on the cutting room floor. I'd also like to see C-Span-style coverage of local events for their sites.

"Also, it is a conversation nowadays: How about video letters to the editor?"

And my own short list of tips for news broadcasters:

• Don't plaster anchors' faces all over your site. That's a fake personal connection -- not the kind of genuine connection online communities want. Done well, anchor blogs (including video/audio blogs) work better than posed headshots.
• Work with your community. Ask them what they want to see covered -- and ask them augment your coverage with citizen journalism efforts.
• Get beyond sound bites online. Present full video, interviews, etc. in context. Also, consider posting some of your video on YouTube for promotion and discussion. Video responses there can be extremely interesting and help build your brand.

What are your thoughts? What could/should broadcast news be doing online? Please comment below. (Terry, feel free to edit and use this in your newsletter as you see fit. Thanks for asking for our input!)