For this series, Duty takes you behind the scenes of major reports from its journalists in 2024. Each week, Félix Pedneault produces several short videos which summarize key moments in the news for younger audiences on platforms like TikTok, X or YouTube. Here is the approach behind this advance into uncharted waters.
Nowadays, we can no longer ignore the influence that digital short video platforms have on ambient discourse.
Several controversies that have emerged in mainstream media first originated on TikTok. We can think of the masculinist movement, whose short videos, sketched by these influencers from longer podcast interviews, travel at full speed thanks to the algorithms which promote the virality of this type of content.
From the birth of this type of flash format during the COVID-19 pandemic, it became apparent to me that the media was conspicuous by its absence on these platforms.
In 2024, nearly 15 million Canadians would use TikTok and 70% of them would be under the age of 40, according to statistics taken by several Canadian marketing firms, but difficult to source. The average time spent per day on these platforms easily ranges from 50 minutes to more than an hour, depending on the market research you consult.
Change the traditional method
For me, the potential to reach a very large audience and the need to find truthful information in the incessant flow of videos sent to these platforms required journalists to master this new format. And it wasn't easy!
On TikTok and YouTube, authenticity and complicity with the listener take precedence. In order not to stand out in this digital environment, we must leave the jackets and ties in the locker room and get rid of the stentorian tone to which TV news presenters have accustomed us.
The biggest obstacle in my eyes, however, remains time. The short duration of videos, as well as the plummeting average attention span of their users (a Microsoft study puts it at eight seconds), requires us to constantly reinvent ourselves. You have to find dynamic situations – sometimes by starting to explain a piece of news from its most catchy side, rather than from the essential of what there is to understand.
You have to write effectively with short sentences, clear and simple ideas, all with the care not to cut corners, not to evacuate the nuance of important news.
Unfortunately, not all stories can be summed up in less than a minute! It would not do justice to the complexity of certain issues to summarize them in such a short time.
So I sometimes find myself faced with this kind of dilemma: should we talk about the diplomatic crisis between India and Canada in this format? I ended up agreeing with my division manager that it was better to take more time to talk about it, at least 90 seconds, even if it might harm the virality of the video.
This is reminiscent of the format of the radio bulletin, where a newsreader strings together the news items in a fairly tight time frame. The difference, once again, lies in the tone of the video and the choice of words, where one must avoid appearing cold or disembodied.
The new field reporter
To shoot this kind of capsule, nothing could be simpler: arm yourself with your smartphone and a support, find a lit place, and tell your story.
On the field, you have to be resourceful and versatile. I shoot the images myself with my cell phone while conducting the interviews. Although more difficult, this way of doing things has its advantages: in the absence of a real camera pointed at them, cell phones being much more common and subtle, people are more at ease. They become warmer and their tongues loosen.
For example, homeless people on Notre-Dame Street, in Montreal, let me visit their camp armed with my cell phone, where the local TV stations stood back and trained their cameras on the site.
When it comes to subtlety, the mobile phone has no equal. Shortly after the adoption of a law that restricted the sale of flavored vapes, I was able to film an entire transaction in a store that resold illegal vapes with my cell phone. If I had entered with a camera, I would have simply been kicked out, but the presence of a cell phone in my hand did not arouse any suspicion.
This material can then be directly edited into a short vertical video, and broadcast to as many people as possible.
A formula set to spread?
Journalists, both in the field and in editorial, are called upon to become more versatile through this format. A text can be transcribed into a short video, and vice versa. Already, in several media, I observe this tendency to “deliver content” on more than one platform by adapting the subject of a report to the format of a short video.
News coverage purely through short video does not escape foreign media either, such as in France, where the Brut channel stands out.
The work of Palestinian journalists during the offensive of Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip demonstrates the relevance of such a format. Winner of an Emmy Award for her work documenting the lives of Palestinian refugees, journalist and activist Bisan Owda has been able to show a unique perspective on the war in Gaza through her short-form videos. They have been viewed millions of times on TikTok and Instagram.
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