Scotsman.com claims video podcast first

News sites have been racing for podcast firsts in the past few months but Scotsman.com is claiming one better - what is believed to be the first UK newspaper video podcast.

The Edinburgh team chose a local history feature for the podcast which explores The Closes, the city's infamous lanes, as part of Scotsman.com's popular heritage section.

General manager Alistair Brown told journalism.co.uk that the site wants to experiment with feature-based video content and continue to focus on building platforms with revenue-earning potential.

"We're always looking for opportunities to test new formats," said Alistair Brown, general manager of Scotsman.com.

"We have used audio and video on our site for some time and were early promoters of RSS. Video podcasts are a natural progression for us."

The video podcast can be downloaded to watch later on a computer or video iPod, or viewed through Scotsman.com's heritage site. Mr Brown said the technology had to be carefully introduced to the site's 2.8 million monthly users in a straightforward way, introducing podcasts as an extension of RSS and offering the video in different formats.

Scotsman.com is talking to a number of organisations about advertising and sponsorship potential, although content will remain free to users.

The three-minute video was written and presented by Diane Maclean, one of the Scotsman.com's BBC-trained journalists, and shot by a freelance film-maker. Scotsman.com is now working on several ideas for its next video podcasts.

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