multimedia news

Today's news certainly seems to be a convergence of media which no longer exist in separate realms. This is mostly because of the Internet's wide range of capabilities - you can read a news article, look at pictures, watch a newscast, or download a podcast, all through the Internet. The trends of streaming newscasts and downloadable podcasts are really what interest me the most these days. I think the reason this grabbed my attention recently was because I noticed that smaller news outlets have begun streaming and podcasting.

I often like to check ThePittsburghChannel (website for WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh), simply because it's from my hometown, and I like to keep up with what's going on at home. First of all, I noticed that when you first log on to WTAE's site, an ad for the morning news streams automatically on your screen. WTAE may want to rethink this approach, as they may lose the part of their online audience that doesn't want to get in trouble at work for straying from what they should be doing. Aside from that, I noticed that not only does WTAE stream a good number of stories on their website, they also offer podcasts of particular stories. Granted, they don't have entire newscasts available for podcasting, but as the site claims, they're just getting started. It is interesting because Pittsburgh is not known for being a leader in the media realm, which says a lot for the podcasting trend - it's really gaining steam and reaching some smaller markets.

It is nice to be able to pick and choose which news stories you want to watch on your computer. This may lead to lower audience numbers for the evening news, because people will be able to pick which stories they want to see. This makes viewing broadcast news more of a print news experience. The site offers a number of stories, just like a newspaper, and allows the viewer/reader to pick and choose, without having to sit through an entire nightly news broadcast. Perhaps this is just feeding our 21st century ADD/ADHD society. Or perhaps it is democratizing the news machine itself.