A pandemic-born team has been getting millions of views for reconstruction videos of major news stories. But how do you wrestle a time-sensitive story against a time-intensive medium?
Subscribe to the Journalism.co.uk podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud and Spotify
Less than two years ago, The Washington Post created a small visual forensic team. This pandemic-born team consists of a handful of specialist reporters analysing and verifying open-source, on-the-ground videos from major news events.
Off the back of that, the team started to publish reconstruction videos which piece together how complex news moments have unfolded, like the death of George Floyd, the siege on the US capitol on 6th January 2021, and an award-winning piece on the crackdown on protesters before Trump’s photo op in Lafayette Square. Many (but not all) of these videos rack up views in the millions.
In this week's episode of the Journalism.co.uk podcast, we speak to executive producer Nadine Ajaka who leads that visual forensics team: a team which is now expanding twofold thanks to the impact and resonance of their work. It is a sign that The Post is seeing value in this style of social video journalism and wants to double its efforts and output.
It has also launched a related but separate project, pulling together a database of verified UGC videos from the Ukraine war, and put them behind a paywall for both general audiences and other news outlets who can use the bank of footage, if credited, in their own work without the resource-intensive work done by The Post to source and verify them.
Ajaka talks about the logistics of jigsawing these complicated news stories together with a remote team, weighing up a time-consuming medium against a time-sensitive story, and the potential revenue model driving the strategy.
If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).
Sign up to receive job alerts of your choice by email, or manage your subscription
Featured recruiter: click to view its vacancies
New digital journal covering inflation and rate setting seeks a talented writer with experience as a financial journalist to use data to produce specialist content
Subscribe to our newsletter for latest news, tips, jobs and more
End that deadline stress today and find help in our freelance directory
Personal trainer James Hilton has launched a podcast 'Jim's Gym - Inspiring Movement'. James, a specialist in biomechanics and injury recovery from the Cotswolds, runs Jim's Gym, a virtual online space supporting people over 55 to be more active
Our next Newsrewired conference will be in May 2025, London.
Conferences and study weeks are fantastic opportunities to get the latest updates on the industry and network with your peers
Awards are a great way to have your hard work recognised by industry experts and celebrate your teams. Here is where you can apply
If you find your social feeds a tad too heavy on men's voices, follow and connect with these fantastic women experts on indie media
How do you move print readers to digital? Are there other ways to hold on to subscribers besides a last-ditch deal?
