Sites for sore eyes

David Dunkley Gyimah has worked in film and broadcast news for 18 years. In 1994 he joined digital TV station Channel One as one of the first NUJ-accredited videojournalists and has since worked for the BBC Newsnight, Channel 4 News, ABC TV News South Africa and WTN. He is now senior lecturer in digital journalism at the University of Westminster and a director at the Broadcast Journalism Training Council.

As broadband use in the UK reaches five million households and beyond, multimedia content and web TV are set to become the norm. Mr Dunkley Gyimah gives dotJournalism the low-down on internet video content and highlights the trends to watch.

Which sites are producing the most impressive online video content?

Design companies have the edge, I feel, particularly towards the screenager generation. If you're after news geared towards film, culture and design then Newstoday.com is sheer genius - simple, elegant design. The content is so visually arresting that you'll place your hands on the screen to be cuffed.

Watch Ministry Messiah and David Lachapelle's new film Rize previews.

Few would deny the accolades and respect that Hillman Curtis reaps. The 'Father of Flash Design' is a worthy title, but his new video work has a wonderful look and feel. More is less.

GoArmy.com: Could it possibly be that a legion of young men and women saw this and signed up to the Stars and Stripes? As PR goes, this site has exceptionally-produced video - see 'A soldier's life', which has all the allure of a Hollywood film like Weweresoldiers.com. Great interface, strong images and also nicely laid out.

Second Story is a multiple award-winning company, similar to BD4D.com and Design is Kinky. It has been around for a while but has continued to push the boundaries of motion and visual storytelling.

The IMOL concept - interactive magazines online - is something we've explored at Westminster with View Magazine. It has given us a window to create video news features that can play over broadband without RealPlayer, complemented by strong text articles.

Heavy.com could be described as the T4 of online. It's irreverent, fun and comedic, and its look has the feel of net TV as it might evolve for the screenager. It's rumoured to have viewers in the millions. Good back-engine stuff to support what they do. Closer to home, Guerilla.uk.com gets the nod for its mini-documentaries.

There are some really cool news sites but I can't leave out the BBC because of its link building, how it exploits search engine optimisation and its user-led focus to the way we read online.

It really took on board Jakob Neilsen's research drilling content online, and how it needs to be modular with key gates to drive users around the site. But the real gems lie in the BBC's broadband offerings. Few organisations cut to the chase as they do.

The whole nature of programme making for online is changing, but its iMP (Interactive Media Player) might just give it the edge for programme distribution. I'm looking forward to how it might revolutionise video online.

Is online video part of 'the new journalism'?

There are now two schools of journalism. In one, the journalist must be accredited and trained. In the new school, we have bloggers, mobloggers and latter-day gonzo. You can attract a large international audience through blogging or podcasting, so a generation of storytellers may well bypass traditional routes of education and the mainstream if they don't feel the industry is relevant to them any more.

It will be a Darwinian process of open democracy. I've always called it the digital reformation; a faction of the church breaks free and allows the masses to read and interpret the bible themselves. That's what is happening with the media.

Technology is becoming much more sophisticated and affordable. The new Sony HD cameras are near film quality and low budget - these offer an entry point to filmmaking and will also encourage citizen and civic journalism.

The distinction between journalists and techies, and press and broadcasters, will become increasingly blurred. The next generation of journalists will have to match, and surpass, the skills of the screenager generation. And the argument that one person can't or shouldn't be multi-skilled, or that it vastly affects the quality of journalism, I believe now is a moot point.

Bloggers have become so popular that mainstream media has had to take notice: cue Rupert Murdoch. The mainstream initially saw blogging as a threat because it undermined everything that real journalism has 'stood for'. But that will change, and blogging - or symmetrical news exchange - will become the status quo.

There is also a whole world opening up in video reports. Video journalism is going to be used to get down to grassroots level for local news. I think our local boroughs and councils will realise that doing news online costs virtually nothing, and will do their own video news. It's public space television and there will be outside portals, just as the BBC operates in rail stations now.

Video news, particularly at local level, facilitates multiple points of view. News broadcasting under Ofcom is restricted by rules governing professionalism, objectivity and impartiality, but on the net no such boundaries exist. It allows for a panoramic examination of issues.

And Oh My News is fantastic - it's citizen journalism with a hard bit editorial bent and that's a superb business model. There are small overheads, and they simply pay the public for submitting good news. The same will happen in this country eventually - there is huge potential for civic-generated content.

How do you think the journalism industry in the UK compares with the US?

In any society people will resist change because it takes them out of their comfort zone. In comparison to the US, the UK has a limited number of broadcasters and newspapers so there is less diversity in content and personnel. Combined with our sometimes parochial outlook that means we're more resistant to change, but it is happening.

At some point, journalism is going to be overcome by technologists. In the US there's a bigger playing field - probably more venture capital and a can-do attitude.

I really look forward to ten years down the line when this industry will be so different - shaken up by bloggers and massive niche communities online.

Do you think there has been a lack of experimentation in the UK media industry?

The industry is still at a dynamic stage, and there's a push and pull between the big bricks and integrated media companies - I don't call them new media anymore! What most companies have done until now is take existing media and place it on the web, which means the web is just a distributive medium.

Is this really the right way to use the web? Many technologists agree we haven't scratched the surface of the web yet. A child of five growing up on web will use it in a modular fashion, jumping in and out of content. We are now in a world where many know nothing other than the internet. They'll use five or six media at once - TV, internet, mobile, iTunes, IPTV, iPods - and filter out what they don't want.

Broadband internet is fundamentally changing the way we do things - the way we think, gather information, operate as global communities and even how we talk to each other. Darwin's laws will weed out the technophobes. The media will change - because the first technology adopters and their followers are engaged in all things digital and are rabidly seeking new forms of expression online.

More news from dotJournalism:
Peter Bale, online editorial director of Times Online
Richard Burton, web editor of Telegraph.co.uk
Alisa Bowen, head of Reuters.co.uk
Tom Regan, executive director of the Online News Association
Peggy White, general manager of BusinessWeek.com
Steve Outing, senior editor at the Poynter Institute
Laura Hayes, editor of NewWoman.co.uk
Rafat Ali, publisher of PaidContent.org
Alex White (formerly Alex Daley), head of the UK’s Association of Online Publishers

Free daily newsletter

If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).