For the past year, many reporters for National Public Radio have added something new to their traditional microphone and audio recorder. Radio reporters now carry and use digital video cameras. Why? To record video of their stories for NPR’s Web site — a place the network has found turns listeners into viewers.
NPR is joining the multimedia revolution, using the Internet as a way to expand the audience for its radio news programming. That means combining video, audio and text into the online versions of news reports.
“These people are certainly not professional photographers, but they capture what reporters are seeing on the ground,” Maria Thomas, vice president of NPR Online, told CNET News.com.
NPR cultural correspondent Rick Karr told CNET that he doesn’t view the video equipment as an extra burden, but as a necessity for survival. “For me, there's an underlying question about the future of radio and (the) future of radio journalism,” Karr said. “We can‘t just stick our heads in the sand and say, ‘Oh we're just fine,’ because somebody might come along in a new medium and steal our lunch.”
For more information visit www.npr.org.
