HamptonRoads.com, a community and news portal of the Norfolk (Virginia) Virginian-Pilot, has launched what its managers think may be the first “local video portal” in the U.S. HamptonRoads.tv
is a video-only website featuring videos of “local entertainment, news,
sports, traffic, local life, music, movies previews, and more,”
according to a press release announcing the service last week.
Video content will come from a variety of sources, including HamptonRoads.tv videographers and the staff of the Virginian-Pilot.
More importantly, I think, the site is inviting the public to
contribute their videos — a nod to the now-popular concept of “citizen
journalism.”
This should be interesting to watch. Local videos of sports teams,
music groups, and events are likely to populate the site. I suspect
that initially, local community groups and bands will begin to use it
to promote themselves — swapping the familiar press release with more
engaging low-cost video.
If this really is the first local video portal, it’s interesting that
it’s from a newspaper. This concept seems like a no-brainer for a local
TV station’s news operation.
