long story short - bloomberg l.p. · • narrative structure helps build and satisfy audience...
TRANSCRIPT
Long story shortHow high-quality photos drive
cross-platform storytelling
Webinar
March 1, 2016
Natasha Cholerton-Brown, Global Director
for Visual Media Content, Bloomberg
Introducing our hosts
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[Head shot of Natasha
Cholerton-Bown]
[Head shot of Michael Shane]Michael Shane, Managing Editor,
Bloomberg Digital
Get the full picture
Demand for high-quality images is growing.
Audiences expect continuous visual engagement
across media platforms. Are you ready to meet
the need?
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1. Inside a changing industry
2. Cross-platform storytelling
3. Preparing your visual media team
4. Delivering curated content
1. Inside a changing industry
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The Chicago Sun-Times continues to evolve with our digitally savvy customers, and as a result, we have had to restructure the way we manage multimedia, including photography, across the network.
Statement from the Chicago Sun-Times after
laying off all 28 full-time photo staffers
Photo desks are shrinking
at Chicago Sun-Times, Sports Illustrated, Atlanta
Journal-Constitution
Major photo layoffs
cut between 2010 and 2012 — compared to 6% for
reporters and 0.2% for editors
18%
of newspaper photographers/videographers
have lost their jobs since 2000
43%
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Source: American Society of News Editors
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Major industry trends
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• Rise of mobile/social and user-generated
content (UGC)
• New digital platforms changing needs
for still images
• Competition/collaboration with digital video
• Broader acceptance of royalty-free
stock photos
• Major shifts in licensing business as
Corbis is sold to Visual China Group
What are the implications?
• Build multi-talented newsroom teams
• Think cross-platform
• Fill gaps with licensed images
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What does a multi-talented newsroom look like?
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• Reporters/editors fill several roles
• Editors must know every step in the workflow
required to create high-quality visuals
– Technically
– Compositionally
– Third-party platform needs
• Vertical orientation (traditional/print) vs. horizontal orientation (digital)
• Mix of images: website vs. app vs. social media vs. print
• Optimal resolution for each platform
• Capturing different content for specific platforms
• How audience needs/tastes differ by platform
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Think cross-platform
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Fill gaps with licensed images
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• Licensed photos help expand coverage
options — quickly
• Be mindful of quality and coverage
• Balance the look of licensed images
with your brand image
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Five essentials for flexibility
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The Bloomberg mantra for creating effective,
valuable, cross-platform images
2. Cross-platform storytelling
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Why storytelling works
Stories drive engagement in a content-
saturated world
• Narrative structure helps build and satisfy audience expectations
• Multiple platforms can tell one story in new or surprising ways
• Desire to hear the full story — or the next story — increases appetite
• Compelling stories share more than just information
• Encourages audiences to share content widely
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• Fundamental building blocks
• Text and visuals work better together
than alone
• Visuals bring stories to life
– They drive an emotional connection
– They provide an experience
• Speed is essential in digital/mobile/social
• Images convey more — and do it more
quickly
High-quality photos are essential to your story
Tell the right story from day one
12 critical questions for more engaging visuals
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1. What are the best visual content types to tell the story?
2. Are we trying to add information or color?
3. Is the visual conceptual or true to life?
4. What are the technical requirements of the intended platform?
5. Is the image fair and legal?
6. Does it editorialize?
7. Is the story timely?
8. Does it represent our brand appropriately?
9. How much do we want to spend?
10. Do we want to use content that can be found elsewhere?
11. Can we use the same asset on different platforms?
12. Are there layout restrictions?
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How a single image can flex across multiple platforms
What does flexing look like in the real world?
Broadcast Mobile
Website Social
Challenges for a cross-platform world
When newsroom resources are limited, finding
the images you need can be difficult.
• Budget may only allow one or two agency feeds
• Different platforms governed by separate teams
– Is there a centralized photo library/database?
– No way to know what has already been license
– Need to avoid duplicate purchases
• Metadata must be clean for easy searching — time is limited
• Rights may restrict platform choices
• Technology infrastructure determines speed/ease of
acquisition/sharing
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How to shoot platform-agnostic content
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1. Anonymity ensures long-term
reusability
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How to shoot platform-agnostic content
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2. Broad, generic images in addition
to specific subjects
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How to shoot platform-agnostic content
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3. Hit the coverage checklist
• Core news: direct and informative
• Concept: more symbolic, less literal
• Progressive: pushing stylistic boundaries
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How to shoot platform-agnostic content
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Core news: direct and informative
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How to shoot platform-agnostic content
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Concept: more symbolic, less literal
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How to shoot platform-agnostic content
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Progressive: pushing stylistic boundaries
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How to produce more compelling images
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Stylistic choices can help create
a distinct look and feel
Shoot in 360°
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How to produce more compelling images
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Stylistic choices can help create
a distinct look and feel
Audio capture
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How to produce more compelling images
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Stylistic choices can help create
a distinct look and feel
Video capture
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How to produce more compelling images
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Stylistic choices can help create
a distinct look and feel
On-camera flash
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How to produce more compelling images
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Stylistic choices can help create
a distinct look and feel
Lens choices
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How to produce more compelling images
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Stylistic choices can help create
a distinct look and feel
Details/close-ups
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How to produce more compelling images
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Stylistic choices can help create
a distinct look and feel
GIF
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How to produce more compelling images
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Stylistic choices can help create
a distinct look and feel
B-roll
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How to produce more compelling images
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Stylistic choices can help create
a distinct look and feel
News coverage
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How to produce more compelling images
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Stylistic choices can help create
a distinct look and feel
Blog (iPhone quality)
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How to produce more compelling images
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Stylistic choices can help create
a distinct look and feel
Gathering UGC
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How to produce more compelling images
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Stylistic choices can help create
a distinct look and feel
Aerials via drones or helicopter
3. Preparing your visual media team
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What does a multifunctional team look like?
Editors
• Content-agnostic
• Digital competency
• Basic video competency
Photographers
• Understand platform needs/nuances
• Know and master technology
– Transmit content
– Troubleshoot in the field
– Be open to shooting on alternative devices
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Workflow is changing… rapidly
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Since 2013, Bloomberg has streamlined
the total time from image ingestion to
final export for licensing customers from
10 minutes to 90 seconds.
Common mistakes to avoid
• Thinking about visuals too late in story development
• Shooting for only one or two platforms — instead of four or five
• Not leveraging every opportunity
• Not thinking about alternative audiences
• Lack of rigorous, upstream communication about visuals
• Losing opportunities due to technical difficulty
• Improper tagging that makes search/archive difficult later
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Digital convenience brings additional risks,
especially with third-party content and
UGC
• Tools to verify content: Google Reverse Image,
Findexif.com, Foto Forensics
• Knowing red flags: multiple light sources,
curved/bending surfaces, reduced or uneven quality
• Dealing with graphic content
• Speed vs. accuracy
• Reputational risk
• Final gut check
On the horizon: Content verification
4. Delivering curated content
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Scale changes everything
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• Covering one story is easy — covering
global news is exponentially more difficult
• Speed and agility at scale require very
clear communication
• Disciplined process is different than
bureaucracy
• Handling scale with resiliency = growth
opportunity
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[Visual: Screen cap of a
collaboration tool or calendar]
• Standardized process for story calendars
• Efficient communication cadence reduces chaos
• Transparency among editors about priorities
• Collaborating with photo editors to frame the
story and visuals
• Centralized image storage with clear metadata
for easy search
• Open collaboration tools like Trello, Basecamp,
Asana
What does a strong process look like?
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Using licensed photography
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• Add depth and breadth in core categories
• Scale up without hiring a global photo team
• Supplement stories with high-quality visuals
• Easily expand coverage into attractive
verticals
• Test audience appetite for new subjects,
events, styles
High-quality images drive engagement
The Bloomberg Content Service is the leading provider of photos,
news, videos, and data to publishers, broadcasters and other
companies in more than 60 countries.
• Enhance breaking news as it happens with compelling, timely images
• Trusted coverage of people, companies and trends in business and finance
• Preview and download content through Media Source, a portal to the Bloomberg Photos archive
• Critical metadata makes it easy to search hundreds of thousands of images
– World leaders
– Major events
– Cityscapes
– Industries
– Company logos
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Questions
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Thank you