After a two week furlough, I am back to my media critic of the BBC for #loweclass. This week's focus? Video coverage. My review of the BBC's use of video? Mediocre.
One of the first things that stood out to me was the BBC's lack of video on their home page. When I entered the website, I found an identical page to what I've been seeing all semester: white background, black text, an off-centered rolling headline, and subjects divided into columns. Although I agree it is important to keep a website clear and consistent, I've become bored of the page and its lack of enthusiasm. I found other websites, such as Yahoo or NBC to have a more intriguing and interactive home page because they pop with color, plays on font size to create emphasis, and offer video as a first option for their visitors.
I only found two videos on the home page and they were difficult to come across. Since the rolling headline has a play button, I figured one of the images would play a video, but instead it played an image slideshow. I looked for other play buttons, and eventually came across a smaller one that played a video titled, "F1 in numbers," which I soon learned was about car racing. I would have preferred to see a breaking news video.
To further my investigation, I hit the news tab and was relieved to find a horizontal scrolling bar of videos. About time! I liked that each video I clicked on only provided a few lines of text to describe the video. Many times, when I am watching a video I find my eyes automatically wander to the text, which is word-for-word what is being said in the video. I thought the BBC's lack of text accompanying the video was unique and effective in keeping its visitors dedicated to the story. This sets the BBC apart from other American news publications, and now that I know this I will be more likely to watch their videos in the future.
During my time spent living in London, I learned the BBC is a conglomeration of media outlets. It includes television, radio, podcast, motion pictures, documentaries and online news. I think it is a great convenience for the BBC to offer links to each of these different media outlets on its website, especially for those who live outside the UK. Since I am a college student living in America, I do not get BBC television through my cable company. If I go online, there is a TV tab I can access that brings me to a live showing of their television programming. I found this to be an effective strategy by the BBC to reach a worldwide audience.
When comparing the BBC's website to others, I also found the BBC keeps its advertising minimal. On Yahoo's home page I am constantly bombarded with pop-up video advertisements. Since I began critiquing the BBC, I have yet to be interrupted by an advertising video. It is nice to see a news source that is dedicated to telling the news rather than making a profit. It's another reason why I will always stay loyal to the BBC.
After watching a few videos, I noticed most of the videos are not live. The broadcasters do a voice over to tell the story instead of going to an event while it is happening. I liked that there was a voice over because it was like watching a short movie, instead of watching the news. I felt like I got a better understanding of the situation because there were no weather or noise interruptions. It reminded me of the video I was assigned to do for #loweclass, and it gave me ideas for how I can improve my video editing for future assignments.
During my critique I have gone back-and-forth on whether or not I like or dislike the BBC's use of video. I dislike that video is not readily available on the home page for its viewers, but I appreciate the quality of the videos because I think they are well done, and just the right amount of time. As a tech-lagger and writer, I don't know if I will ever resort to video or television to get my news, but I do appreciate when it is provided for me. With that in mind, I would say the BBC could use to incorporate more videos into its site.
One of the first things that stood out to me was the BBC's lack of video on their home page. When I entered the website, I found an identical page to what I've been seeing all semester: white background, black text, an off-centered rolling headline, and subjects divided into columns. Although I agree it is important to keep a website clear and consistent, I've become bored of the page and its lack of enthusiasm. I found other websites, such as Yahoo or NBC to have a more intriguing and interactive home page because they pop with color, plays on font size to create emphasis, and offer video as a first option for their visitors.
I only found two videos on the home page and they were difficult to come across. Since the rolling headline has a play button, I figured one of the images would play a video, but instead it played an image slideshow. I looked for other play buttons, and eventually came across a smaller one that played a video titled, "F1 in numbers," which I soon learned was about car racing. I would have preferred to see a breaking news video.
To further my investigation, I hit the news tab and was relieved to find a horizontal scrolling bar of videos. About time! I liked that each video I clicked on only provided a few lines of text to describe the video. Many times, when I am watching a video I find my eyes automatically wander to the text, which is word-for-word what is being said in the video. I thought the BBC's lack of text accompanying the video was unique and effective in keeping its visitors dedicated to the story. This sets the BBC apart from other American news publications, and now that I know this I will be more likely to watch their videos in the future.
During my time spent living in London, I learned the BBC is a conglomeration of media outlets. It includes television, radio, podcast, motion pictures, documentaries and online news. I think it is a great convenience for the BBC to offer links to each of these different media outlets on its website, especially for those who live outside the UK. Since I am a college student living in America, I do not get BBC television through my cable company. If I go online, there is a TV tab I can access that brings me to a live showing of their television programming. I found this to be an effective strategy by the BBC to reach a worldwide audience.
When comparing the BBC's website to others, I also found the BBC keeps its advertising minimal. On Yahoo's home page I am constantly bombarded with pop-up video advertisements. Since I began critiquing the BBC, I have yet to be interrupted by an advertising video. It is nice to see a news source that is dedicated to telling the news rather than making a profit. It's another reason why I will always stay loyal to the BBC.
After watching a few videos, I noticed most of the videos are not live. The broadcasters do a voice over to tell the story instead of going to an event while it is happening. I liked that there was a voice over because it was like watching a short movie, instead of watching the news. I felt like I got a better understanding of the situation because there were no weather or noise interruptions. It reminded me of the video I was assigned to do for #loweclass, and it gave me ideas for how I can improve my video editing for future assignments.
During my critique I have gone back-and-forth on whether or not I like or dislike the BBC's use of video. I dislike that video is not readily available on the home page for its viewers, but I appreciate the quality of the videos because I think they are well done, and just the right amount of time. As a tech-lagger and writer, I don't know if I will ever resort to video or television to get my news, but I do appreciate when it is provided for me. With that in mind, I would say the BBC could use to incorporate more videos into its site.
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