It's Already Here

Everyone talks about the future of broadcast news, but I think I've seen it already. It's niche-oriented, it's digital, it's funded by an organization that cares about the niche topic--- Clean Energy.

But is it independent? I have no idea.

But I met the producer of this online TV network. Executive Producer Anna Davalos says she produces daily newscasts with her staff in an office in downtown DC. Davalos has a wealth of broadcast news producing background. Now's she's moved onto this online broadcast network.

The news anchors are all experienced TV news folk. That 's a good thing. They have the look of TV news. But as for news substance, I hope it is as independent from the CleanSkies Foundation as Davalos claims.

Watch and you decide.

Here is the foundation. I tried to find out what they were about but it only gives a list of people and their titles.

But this website adds more muscle to the claim that the movement of online-video has reached a tipping point, according to Paul Sagan, the CEO of Akamai, the online video streaming company.

Loving These Multimedia Websites

I enjoy these multimedia websites because they are fun, organized, and easy-to-use.

1. Feast Your Eyes On This!

If I had a website, I would model it after this one! I LOVE the music. It totally gives the ambience/vibe/mood of the personal chef. The music makes me feel that she's sophisticated like a nice, intimate high-end restaurant. And because I like the music so much, I am inclined to spend more time exploring the site. Also, I am happy that the music can be stopped at any time, just in case a visitor doesn't want the music on.


Her Recipes page is interactive/fun and visual. You click on the recipe box and the individual recipe page "pops out." I think the images are beautiful, neat, and clean. I actually contacted the personal chef, Tianna Feaster, to ask who built her website. I got the name of the guy and saw that he is an extremely creative online website builder. It seems he not only knows the technical stuff, but he also knows web design and visuals. This is why I love this website.



I also like the highly personalized language used with the site. Instead of just "contact" or the usual words, she uses "hit me up!" as her label for the "contact" page. I can read her personality through these choice of words.


The ONE caveat: Before you get into the main web page, there is a page that specifies what types of software and computer would be required/best suited to view the site. This may be the extra step you have to take with such a highly designed website.

Required:
-Java Enabled
-Flash Player Plugin

Best viewed with:

-High Screen resolution
-Broadband Connection
-Speakers
-Internet Explorer 7.0
-Firefox 2.0


2. The Wall Street Journal video section

I enjoy this news website's video player the BEST out of all the other news video players. I like how the video window is a reasonably large size. (The Pop-out video size is also fairly reasonable. But I don't use the pop-out video size that much.)

I would LOVE for the video player to be even bigger like on Youtube, but compared to other news video sites, this is a really good one. The resolution is also pretty good. Also, the video player doesn't DRAG or have glitches from the times I've visited the site.

I usually HATE the video commercials. But somehow, I don't mind the ones on the Wall Street Journal video player. I think it's because these web video commercials are highly produced and creative with really good MUSIC. Again, I come back to music because that's what draws me in. Visuals are great but you can't deny noticing the sounds.


Also, it's clever that between videos, the player displays a 5 second "The Wall Street Journal" mini-ad. It's just a simple piano tune along with the words, "The Wall Street Journal" pieced together from white scattered white puzzle-like pieces. The repetition of this tune and the ad is very effective between news pieces. (I can't get the tune out of my head.)

The enjoy browsing through the video clips. There's an eclectic mix of news topics all put at the bottom of the video screen. Also, I like the video title and concise news caption for each video.

I work in TV news. So I think the Wall Street Journal video reporters often lack the energy in their voices. This is one thing I wish they would do better--- sound more enthusiastic.

3. Google.com


I use Google's search page every time I go on the internet. I appreciate that despite all of the multimedia features that Google has developed (images, video, maps, shopping,) the search page remains relatively simple and clutter-free. I am a HUGE fan of this minimalist style and hopes it remains this way.