Newspapers: Mixing Text, Photos and Video

Another transition area where the New York Times has excelled is video production for the online versions of articles. A great example is this yesterday's Opinion piece, Orphaned, Raped and Ignored, by Nicholas Kristof. The online version of the article includes riveting color photos and a noteworthy 5-minute video featuring Kristof and the heart-wrenching story of the victims of brutal violence in the eastern Congo.

From my perspective, the video is significant for several reasons:

1. It is professionally produced. (The producer credit appears right at the beginning of the piece.) The correspondent is not expected to self-produce.

2. The Times provides this additional media at "no extra charge."

3. It is interesting how closely the video parallels the text-only version of the article.

This is just the beginning of a major change in how media are published, distributed, and consumed.