May 8, 2008 3:36 pm

Watch Video!

There’s been a large move toward video content on online news sites lately, and while I think this is nice, I have a large issue with it:

Why do they have to pair the video clips with the worst-sounding headlines? It’s never, “Prizewinning rabbit takes first place again! WATCH VIDEO!” or “Man saves life of daughter, wins medal. WATCH VIDEO!”

Instead, it’s something like, “Boys, 13, try to rape principal. WATCH VIDEO!” Or “Crocodile savagely devours pet dog. WATCH VIDEO!”

NO! I don’t want to watch that! Ew! I’m assuming the clips are interviews with people, not actual footage of the incident, but sometimes I’m afraid to find out. I much prefer when those video links have either a transcript or an accompanying story page, especially since I like to read the news at work on my lunch break, and we’re not allowed to stream video (something about bandwidth).

I am kind of curious why these videos are often presented as though they are footage of the incident. Surely people are not that morbid? Or maybe they are and I am just not the target market. What’s your take?

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3 Comments

  • Mar says:

    My take?
    It probably is real footage.
    Because media is JUST THAT DISGUSTING!
    yep.

  • Erin says:

    Sometimes, it’s just a little too much. What I don’t like is when they ONLY have a video and don’t have an actual article to go with the video. Obnoxious, really.

  • lkvy says:

    Nice weather today WATCH VIDEO!

    Yeah, does nothing for me because they’re never subtitled anyway :(