When the Financial Times in 2006 set out to establish a truly multimedia news organization, the publisher considered every facet of its news operation, from reporting and editing to production.

The plan included creating a multiskilled editorial staff and making a commitment to file stories to the Web as soon as possible, supporting FT.com Editor James Montgomery’s assertion that there is no value in holding stories in hopes of stimulating print sales.

 

FT’s new vision also included a significant commitment to using video on its Web site. It was a transition that took shape “bit by bit,” according to Montgomery.

“We started in a small way in audio, video and multimedia about two years ago,” he said. “To start we (used) third parties for audio and video, and learned from them.”

FT.com’s View from the Top and Daily View video spots are among the site’s
most popular.
 

Now, all of the Financial Times’ multimedia initiatives are handled in-house. Print and online editors work side by side. The paper has an integrated newsroom in which teams of reporters and production journalists devote equal effort to print and online content; however, there is also a separate “interactive” desk that specializes in new media.

“It’s a sort of vanguard group, which acquires new skills that can be more widely adopted later,” Montgomery said.

A good example of how the group operates, Montgomery said, is FT.com’s “View from the Top” feature, in which video is an integral part. The segments, which are among the site’s most popular video offerings, include reviews of the day’s news by CEOs. They are a good way for FT.com to project the expertise and personality of its journalists and also enable the paper to exploit its interview opportunities, Montgomery said.

“The FT has good access to important people,” Montgomery said.

FT.com’s U.S. Daily Views and U.K. Daily News segments, meantime, feature commentary from various FT editors.

Montgomery said FT sees value in video not just editorially, but commercially as well.

Training challenge

Reporters film the majority of FT.com video segments using Sony Z1s, with editing done in Final Cut Pro. Maven supplies the newspaper’s video player.

So far, the video segments have been a success, Montgomery said. FT is producing 150 videos per month and the number of page hits has risen accordingly, most recently nearing 1 million.

Training has been the biggest challenge the paper has faced as it rolls out video and other multimedia elements, Montgomery said, and the learning curve has been a bit steeper than anticipated.

As a result, “We have hired some new people with video skills and retrained some of our existing journalists,” he said. “Video — audio and Flash — are different mediums, and you need to understand how it works and when it’s appropriate to use each.”

Montgomery cautioned in order for newspapers to succeed in video, they must produce a quality product.

“At the outset, I think you have a honeymoon when low standards are tolerated,” he said. “But very soon, as a professional publisher, you need to achieve a certain quality if you are to avoid damaging your brand.”

His advice to newspapers looking to implement video segments:

“Start small with people who are enthusiastic and, with luck, have some skill and aptitude. Get training.”

Managing content

Another piece of the integration puzzle for FT has been managing various forms of content. For that, the publisher tapped EidosMedia’s Methode software. The app allows production journalists to work on Web and print content simultaneously, without having to jump between different systems, according to Production Editor Lisa MacLeod.

“Breaking down the dual system wall has meant we can move very quickly,” she said. “Everybody in our newsroom has access to the Web and print copy at any time.”

Editorial teams in New York, London, Hong Kong and Manila, the Philippines, feed that 24/7 operation. Reporters file news for immediate posting to the Web and then write analysis for print.

“Our senior commentators are now seasoned bloggers and video and audio contributors,” MacLeod said.