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Extreme Original Journalism

EXTREME LIVE    What do you get?  This is a creative model for putting Yahoo News in the lead on major stories.   Extreme Live can help Yahoo News to be the ‘go to’ news platform for stories that have previously been dominated by others.  The uses on social media will be obvious.  Why not just let local tv stations worry about live feeds?  Because they aren’t always live at a scene, and they often show more of the sat jockeys then the scene itself.

             Live Shot at Breaking News Sites   What do you gain?   A live picture for millions of portable device users to check in and see what is happening at any given moment.   You do not have to depend upon TV stations, which may or may not be transmitting live.   You have your own producer or videographer set up a camera at the scene of breaking news and go live via laptop dish or other portable transmission device.   The shot can be static or moving.  The Yahoo newsroom can add breaking news text to the web page.   Even if your live shot does not include any on scene reportage, it will serve to include Yahoo News as an integral part of the news supply chain.

             Inside Police and Ambulance storm control rooms    Reporting live from these kind of locations during major storms will give Yahoo a minute by minute advantage, showing the human drama unfolding, while the networks rely upon weather experts far away.   I can tell you how and why Yahoo can do this cheaper and more effectively than TV networks.   You will find yourself supplying the nets, with your Yahoo logo, instead of simply posting their product.   You will not necessarily need a reporter, just a producer who can operate the kit.   Your personalities can be the emergency personnel inside the control room.  The control room live feed becomes a go-to point for the outside world to keep up with real time storm drama.  Other new outlets will want your live feed.

              Yahoo Storm Super Cam   There comes a point in every hurricane when Dan and other reporters can no longer hold on to a pole.  I’ve tried.   It’s the weather story equivalent of a NASA blackout.  A Yahoo hurricane-proof storm-cam, live via portable sat dish, will give the web public a live look into the worst hours of a storm.  And you kick start that live coverage a day or so prior to the worst of the weather, to build your viewership.   People will want to check in from time to time to see how the weather is building.  I would even more the  camera feed around to different areas in the storm build-up, to show live feeds of landmarks or other things at risk.  Then bolt it down for the main event.   Any questions, feel free to ask.   I have embedded (below) a YouTube video of scaffolding in Copenhagen that was threatened by a storm several years ago.  The title should have been more suspenseful, but the video illustrates point about suspense.   You will probably want to watch this video, even though it’s not live, because you just don’t know whether the scaffolding survives or crumbles.  Applying that concept to a live storm cam, it doesn’t matter whether a structure of public interest is destroyed live during your feed.     People will log into your feed because of the suspense.  And it is not contrived, it is part of the natural drama of a major story.

 

‘TALKING’ NEWS PHOTOS   I did say this page would be Extreme Originals!    What do you get?   Attention grabbing commentary and satirical analysis about news stories and newsmakers.   Easy to use animation software makes it possible to take photos of newsmakers and others who may not be available for real time comment and create satirical sketches.  This requires that both sides of a major issue be represented within this kind of coverage of a story.  It also requires good writing.    Why bother?  Satire goes a long way to get, and keep, people interested in civic issues.   Jon Stewart and others have used this idea.  But we would not be in the business of taking sides.  There is plenty of satire to go around for all points of view.   You can also use a talking photo satire page to push to your straight coverage of the same issue.    It’s another way to deepen public consumption of news.  And, of course, talking photos have great potential for celebrity news.

‘TALKING’ ANIMALS    What you get:   A fresh and entertaining way to tell a serious and under covered story of our threaten environment and what we can do about it.  This is a similar technique talking photos, using video instead of stills but instead of political or celebrity satire it is in aid of better awareness of news about wildlife and the environment.    I have more detailed thoughts when appropriate to discuss.

CELEBRITY CORRESPONDENTS     What you get:  Famous people reporting on-scene news stories for Yahoo.  If celebrities want to promote a book, movie, new album etc let them work for it.  They can also benefit.   You can ask the rich and famous to star is your news videos from the scenes of big issue stories.  They gain cred.  You gain hits.  The news issue in question gains more public exposure and understanding.

EXTREME EXPERIENCE   What you get:  This is a ‘real-people’ version of Celebrity Correspondents.   There is obviously a touch of Reality TV here, but with less of a contrived atmosphere.  And it is all in the service of presenting news related issues to your pubic, as seen through the experience of ordinary people.  The possibilities are too numerous to mention, but here are a few examples:   Middle class person lives homeless for three days and reports on the issue.    Convicted drunk driver works in a rehab center and reports on drink and drive issues.    Right and left wingers put themselves in the other persons shoes.   Live updates are an option too.