Washington Post Expands Video Operation

Posted January 16, 2017

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The Washington Post announced last week that it is expanding its video operation significantly, hoping to add about 30 positions to the team that already has over 70 staff.

This is yet another example of how video has come to dominate all forms of communication, particularly on the internet. Traditional outlets, like broadcast TV or print publications are realizing that web video is not only a way to drive revenue, but also necessary to remain relevant. People are more likely to interact with a shared video that has an article attached to it, then just the article alone.

It is no surprise that The Washington Post is leading the pack in the arena of web video as the paper is owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Bezos, who recognized the power of the web in the sales arena, looks to make his print newspaper a 21st century media company. With video he can reach more people than with just text, and make people remember where the story came from.

Over the past decade we have seen numerous print publications lose subscriptions and revenue forcing many to shut down permanently or cut printing. This in many ways was a result of failures to adapt to the changing media landscape, now what is left of the print business sees video as a bridge to the web, and as a way to take back readers from web-first outlets.

With this new expansion, The Washington Post is adding many video jobs, which you can browse here.

From The Washington Post:

Video views grew 139% in 2016 over the previous year as a result of The Post’s original video content and ambitious live programming around big news events.

“We believe video is a critical storyform, and we have the potential to transform what users come to expect from publishers by building on our strengths and creating programming specifically for emerging platforms such as over-the-top (OTT),” said Micah Gelman, director of editorial video for The Washington Post. “The demand is there, and we look forward to reaching new audiences with even more high-quality, original content they want to spend time engaging with.”

These new positions will help bolster the content viewers have engaged with most—such as breaking news and explanatory videos—and broaden The Post’s ability to cover the most interesting and provocative stories of the moment. The Post will add a video component to its well-read Fact Checker reporting, providing visual content that exposes and explains falsehoods and verifies fact. As The Post continues to grow its international audience, there will be additional video resources devoted to the most relevant and consequential foreign stories.

The Post is building a creative team that can provide a news voice that is in sync with storytelling for the web. On-camera personalities will deliver compelling coverage and explain issues related to politics/accountability, health/science, pop culture, food, and Inspired Life stories. In addition to producing more original content, a new scripted team will work with the Opinions desk to create smart, thoughtful and funny shows with a point of view off the news.

Read the full post.