流媒体新闻与底线作斗争

Just as Gutenberg 和 Marconi revolutionized the way people received news of the world around them, 流媒体也在改变着今天的新闻业. 随着像Virage这样的视频搜索引擎的推出, 亚瑟王的神剑, 和MediaSite, 流媒体聚合器 雅虎! 广播, we will soon be able to choose from thous和s of live 和 on-dem和 newscasts - emanating from every corner of the globe - at any given moment. 在一个信息自由流动至关重要的领域 , 流媒体有可能比我们以往任何时候都更接近理想.

但就像任何革命一样, 一些基本问题仍然存在:谁将成为主要参与者, niche-oriented narrow-casters, 或者是当今主要新闻机构的网络化身? 流媒体新闻与传统广播新闻有何不同? 管理传统广播的规定在网络上缺失, 流媒体新闻的道德界限在哪里?

这些问题的答案将会受到影响, 在不同程度上, 一个简单的确定:流媒体无法为自己买单, 至少是间接的, 会不会很快就像那些厌恶收入的互联网公司一样被人遗忘. To shed some light on the possible outcomes - 和 to paint a picture of the current state of streaming journalism - we took a look at a few of the many facets of this growing field.

大人物

进入流媒体领域的门槛很低, 但是新闻采集和报道是昂贵的. 新闻papers 和 television news organizations spend many years 和 millions of dollars building up their infrastructures. So it makes sense that most streaming news is being produced by traditional broadcast journalists. 可以预见，网络新闻机构喜欢 美国广播.com 和 美国有线电视新闻网.com凭借其庞大的视频新闻素材库，占据了市场的主导地位.

美国有线电视新闻网.com, which forever changed television news during the Gulf War by bringing us simultaneous live pictures of SCUDs in Jerusalem 和 Christiane Amanpour in Baghdad, 旨在对流媒体领域产生类似的影响. 戴夫Rickett, 美国有线电视新闻网互动内容开发副总裁, 将流媒体视为美国有线电视新闻网成功的关键.com. “美国有线电视新闻网是一家视频公司. We have tremendous video assets that we want to be able to take advantage of,他说. 他说:“我们在大楼里播放的视频中，大约有10%被使用了. 所以我们真的有很多东西想要转移到网络上."

除了没有出现在网络上的流媒体存档视频，美国有线电视新闻网.Com也直播一些新闻发布会和其他活动的全部内容, 在电视网络切换到其他节目之后很久.

是美国有线电视新闻网.com从电视网吸走了观众，还是吸引了新的观众? Rickett认为电视和互动部门是互补的. “我们试图扩展网络正在做的事情. (我们)正在努力弄清楚我们如何能够进行现场直播, bundle them into a Web package 和 really leverage them for the network 和 the Web to make it worth watching on TV as well as on the Web,他说. "The TV will be enhanced with Web content 和 the PC will be enhanced with TV content."

流动中的报纸

而电视新闻机构则试图利用他们现有的视频百家乐软件, major urban newspapers are hoping to leverage the flood of raw news content that they generate on a daily basis. 因为他们深深扎根于他们的社区, 报纸在建立占主导地位的地区性门户网站的战斗中占了上风. 许多报纸将流媒体视为这场战争的有效武器.

一个典型的例子就是Knight Ridder Corporation, 出版日报, 包括《费城问询报, 在美国.S. 市场. Knightridder.com operates Real Cities, a network of companion Web sites - regional portals - that includes 费城.com，是《百家乐app下载》的伙伴网站. 费城.com's current direction is proof that newspapers need not be bound by text-only material. "We're basically trying to figure out the best way that we can take the content that we have in the newspaper 和 enhance it on the Web. 如果生成视频是一个好方法, 那我们就这么做,托尼·诺福说, 《百家乐app下载》网站内容编辑器.

他心目中的一个例子是费城.Com的交易 Pseudopolitics.com to capture the scene outside 和 around this summer's Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, 每天2到3分钟的流媒体视频.

费城.com网站的大部分视频素材来自另一家《百家乐软件》实体KR video. In 1997, KR制作了原创流媒体视频内容, 根据询问者的报告, 对于网站来说. 克里斯·米尔斯, KR视频总经理, 笔记, “(内容包括)从‘当日’新闻事件到电影评论等方方面面, 音乐评论和健身建议. 这不是为了广播，而是为了网络.“现在, 与WPVI-TV的交易, 当地的ABC分支机构, KR处理WPVI新闻镜头在费城流媒体.com.

KR Video还在制作原创内容 黑鹰下来是一部基于《百家乐app下载》系列报道的纪录片.S. 索马里干预. Additional footage from the documentary, which aired on 美国有线电视新闻网, was shared with 费城.com. 米尔斯指出, "We found a way to exploit streaming media via extended sound bites 和 other sorts of ‘reporter's notebook' type stuff…that went way beyond what was in the TV show. That kind of thing just enhances the usefulness 和 attractiveness of the website so people go there 和 hang around. 这将有助于你的整体广告率."

经济现实

There is little question that the streaming format constitutes a fitting outlet for news 和 other journalistic works. But economic realities will largely determine the role streaming media plays in the world of journalism. Even the big news outfits with ample budgets to cover the relatively minimal costs of streaming are unlikely to offer the fruit of their labors as a public service over the Internet for long; they'll need revenue streams, 或者可能是一种竞争激励, 继续.

来支付未来的计划，美国有线电视新闻网.Com在使用广告方面一直很积极. 像其他网络广播一样，美国有线电视新闻网.Com将横幅广告弹出窗口放置在视频窗口附近. 但是，当大多数其他流媒体只依赖横幅广告时，美国有线电视新闻网.com also runs 15 second video commercials at the beginning 和 end of video news clips. Television audiences have come to tolerate commercials; it remains to be seen whether Web audiences will be as accepting. 但收入必须有来源. Rickett指出:“到目前为止，这一切都是值得的. (广告)是我们希望积极发展和向前迈进的领域."

For smaller operations - Web-only news organizations or local TV station affiliates - the revenue question is even more urgent. 在某些方面, WVEC-TV, 美国广播公司在诺福克的分公司, VA, 是地方电视台的典型代表吗, in that it enjoys a broadcast audience that is naturally convertible to a streaming audience. "We have a lot of military people - including the largest Navy base in the world - in the Norfolk area. 世界上有很多基地都可以上网, 和 we think people from Hampton Roads - 和 all branches of the service - would like to catch up over the Internet with what's going on back home,皮特·麦克尔文说, WVEC-TV网站经理.

不过，尽管WVEC的观众可能有些独特, the affiliate is not immune to the difficulties of turning streaming news into dollars. 一些地方电视台在其网站上销售品牌商品, 但大多数公司都希望从广告中获得收入来源. 到目前为止，结果并不引人注目. "We have not had much success selling ads directly on the streaming," says McElveen. “(但)我们这么做并不完全是为了赚钱. 这是一件充满竞争的事情. 其他电视台都没有直播. 在这个市场上, 我们有三个很强的甚高频电台, 任何时候你都可以在竞争中获得优势, 你拿着它."

然而, 缺乏可靠的收入流来支持流媒体运营, 像WVEC这样的电台最终可能会碰壁. Though WVEC streams a few locally produced special programs in addition to daily newscasts, copyright restrictions limit the content that it 和 other local stations can stream. For instance, syndicated programming is off limits, unless WVEC buys Internet distribution rights. To cost-effectively deliver more streaming video, the best WVEC can do is offer a link to 美国广播.Com(至少与本地分支机构的链接相互交换).

限制是什么??

With the hunt for higher ad rates 和 new revenue sources holding the attention of streaming news operations, 新闻和娱乐之间的界限, 在广播空间已经相当模糊了, 可能被完全抹去是真正的危险吗. 多摄像头的“现实”网络直播，比如CBS的热门节目 大哥哥 甚至会让区分的概念显得古怪.

同时, journalists operating in the unfettered Web environment will need to revisit the ethical questions raised when radio, 然后是电视, 什么是新闻, 和 what crosses the fine line between what the public reasonably needs 和 wants to know 和 what serves only to satisfy prurient interests or a thirst for blood? 免费的 of the constraints of governmental licensing that exist in the broadcast 和 cable worlds, 流媒体新闻可以——也应该——变成什么样子?

例如, 我们能想象对死刑犯的处决吗, 无论是直播还是点播，都可以在我们的realplayer上使用? 如果行刑以“按次付费!,“使用数字版权管理来保护受害者家庭的版税? 或者，如果这些场景太恐怖而无法在美国播放呢, but cash-strapped Tajikistan decided to use streamed executions to decrease its foreign debt? 这些场景会、应该或可能被政府审查机构屏蔽吗?

我们现在正目睹着流媒体新闻断断续续的婴儿期. The most obvious questions concern whether or not it will be able to pay for itself. 但随着答案的出现, perhaps we should also be questioning whether its future will be enlightening -- or frightening.