Improvisation, Economy, and MTV Moves: Online News and Video Production Style

Abstract

This study uses content analysis to explore the way a news organization's norms and expectations is tied to video production style and extends Rogers's Diffusion of Innovations theory. The study compares the current online video production styles from legacy print, legacy TV, and digital native news organizations based in the United States. Over time, while these organizations have converged into one screen for viewers, their differing organizational histories, traditions, and norms affect the way they produce video news. The analysis found legacy print organizations continue to produce slower-paced videos without scripted narration; TV organizations use scripted narration with one correspondent; and digital natives produce stories with quick pacing and a mix of narrator types. Diffusion of Innovations theory helps to explain why these organizations offer distinct production styles that are not converging in form.