long history there, Africa is also a
fantastic success story for AFP video.
Isn’t it sometimes a drawback to
work as part of a multimedia team
when video has its own rhythm?
It can be difficult to manage at times
– but it can cut both ways.
Sometimes, to be sure, we need to
move more quickly than we might
on the text side. But sometimes –
especially with features – working in
video can be a lot slower. At first,
features comprised the entirety of
our production, and then we moved
to raw video. But features are still a
priority for TV clients, and maybe
even more so for digital media. So,
yes, it is a challenge to maintain that
output of well-crafted packages
while at the same time working
under the constant pressure of the
need for raw, hard news video.
At the other end of the spectrum
is live video, which we started doing
in 2012 after a full year of internal
testing. It won’t be fully integrated
into our international catalogue until
2015. In the meantime, we are
developing our editorial and
technical expertise by covering the
widest possible variety of events live,
whether with third-party feed pick-
ups or in-house production, single or
multi-feeds, light SIM-card-based or
heavy SNG equipment. And those
events – of which there are dozens –
are spread across the globe: Africa,
Ukraine, Jerusalem, Rio, Berlin, as
well as here in France, such as the
Cannes Film Festival.
Moving quickly means that
there’s a steep learning curve as we
adapt and experiment to stay in
phase with the needs of our TV and
digital subscribers.
How do you respond to growing
demand for video content on digital
platforms?
To put it simply, we were born
digital. So from the beginning, we
were geared towards broadcasters
and online media alike, delivering
specific editorial and technical
formats, tailored to very different
needs in six languages.
One thing that has changed with
the growing consumption of news
video on mobile phones and tablets
– laptops are increasingly being
bypassed – is that the raw video that
was once-upon-a-time only used by
broadcasters is now being used by
digital media, even where there is no
in-house editorial operation. We’re
talking mainly about short and sharp
news webclips, with no extra
production whatsoever. Working
within images that "speak for
themselves" also makes it possible to
deliver quickly, which is, after all, at
the core of the news agency DNA.
So is accuracy, which takes more
time. Is there a contradiction here?
Let’s call it a challenge. As much as
we need to be fast, we will always
rather be “late & right” than “first &
wrong”. There’s one area in which
this is especially pertinent: so-called
User Generated Content. At AFP, we
have a very specific process of
technical and editorial certification
for UGC video. Sometimes it takes
time before we are able to deliver
that kind of video with confidence,
and sometimes we simply do not
reach a sufficient level of editorial
security to deliver. Either way, we
believe that this is time well spent –
for the sake of our credibility and the
credibility of the hundreds of media
that put their trust in us.
But a successful digital strategy
has to be more than that. You need a
mix of "quick and raw", on the one
hand, and long, carefully produced
formats, on the other. Engaging,
evergreen ‘long-tail’ videos can be
anything from an extended news
package to interactive explainers
based on a video or a video-graphic.
These are key elements that video
brings to digital storytelling. A
narration today works with a palette
of text, photo, video and graphics.
And sometimes, when the story calls
for it, we should take an “upside-
down multimedia approach” that is
video-centric, not text-centric.
Innovations in the pipeline?
One of the areas that we are
currently exploring is 4K video. Just
as AFP was the first global agency to
go full HD back in September 2010,
it makes sense for us to keep
exploring new formats. We have
been experimenting with ultra-high
definition in collaboration with our
Japanese partners within the NexTV
Forum, a collaborative group of
manufacturers and broadcasters that
includes NHK, Panasonic, Sony,
Sharp, Toshiba and NTV.
At the same time, on our
traditional global newsgathering
patch, we are faced with new
challenges. Among those is
maintaining fair access for global TV
agencies to news areas affected by an
ever growing trend towards
privatisation and monetisation. But
that’s a completely different story.
Thank you, Marie-Noëlle Vallès.
“
”
Live video
will be part
of our
inter-
national
catalogue
by 2015
www.afptv.com
THE CHANNEL
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