Why print needs more video content.

Summary: The popularity of video is already a major force in our world today.

Kelly Clarke

Joe Morrison, director of Digital TV at Muscat Media Group, Oman, at WAN IFRA 13th Middle East Conference. (Shihab/KT)

With video accounting for almost 80 per cent of IP traffic over the next few years, the publishing industry needs to transition into this movement at an even quicker pace than it already is.

Speaking at the 13th World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) Middle East Conference in Dubai, Joe Morrison director of Digital TV at Muscat Media Group, Oman, hosted a presentation on how print media organisations should be honing video content to engage audiences.

"Television, for publishers, is a scary word. When I started at the BBC decades ago, you had broadcast at one end of the spectrum and publishers at the other. In middle was nothing. Now, digital is in the middle and that's where both these mediums need to be heading."

Emphasising the importance of turning "journalists into presenters", Morrison said interviewees tend to give more content to interviewers when the message is being televised. The reason why, simple ego!

"It's the glamour of televised content that attracts people to talk more," he said. Simply put, the revolution of the publishing world will be televised over the Internet.

And the two key ingredients for publishers to make it a success is a "great brand and someone at the top who believes in a visual message". With the UAE boasting one of the highest mobile penetration rates in the world, news activity continues to catapult towards the digital ether, with visual content leading the trend.

According to a report from Cisco in 2017, the popularity of video is already a major force in our world today, and accounted for 73 per cent of all consumer Internet traffic in 2016.

As such, one of the bigger drivers now for building a successful portfolio for publishers will be live video. This will be 13 per cent of Internet video traffic by 2021.

In short, video content represents the biggest growth opportunity for new entrants and creators in the news industry.

kelly@khaleejtimes.com

Kelly Clarke Originally from the UK, Kelly Clarke joined Khaleej Times in November 2012. She has a keen interest in humanitarian issues and took over as the dedicated Education Reporter in August 2016. In her spare time she loves to travel off the beaten track, and often write about her quirky experiences of pastures new. Kelly received her BA Honours in Journalism from Middlesex University, UK in 2008. Before joining Khaleej Times she worked as a Supervising Editor for three Healthcare titles in London. @KellyAnn_Clarke

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