The trials and tribulations of online television journalism, US-style
American TV is a different ball game. And Eszter Vajda, Hungarian -born who in 15 years- has interviewed everyone from Jimmy Carter to Hillary Clinton - is now devoting her energy to making small-scale TV open to the public. New on-line broadcast technologies on platforms like Spreecast and Oovoo, are allowing her “to create a space for people from around the world to interact during live shows, ” she says . She adds, “My cause is to facilitate in-depth discussions about issues that affect everyone." TV Journalism is evolving she says. This is her first blog for the Drum. Later outspoken Eszter will also be examining how the big boys are dealing with the TV revolution.
Yes, it can be stressful!
By Eszter Vajda
Online TV or video journalism is exploding. Here in the US I’ve been using Spreecast, ooVoo, Skype and looking into Live stream and Google Hangout to host shows and record interviews.
But as exciting and enticing as these new platforms may be, they come with a certain amount of stress.
These technologies are undergoing their own evolution, growing, and changing sometimes without much warning.
Spreecast is an on-line broadcasting platform that allows registered viewers to participate in live broadcasts. Since October 2012, I have been hosting mostly issue oriented and political shows on Spreecast.
Recently, I started a weekly show called Politics IS Sexy with Tom Farmer, former producer of CNN’s Larry King Live; Ed Rombach, a currency analyst formerly with Reuters; and Rich Rubino,author and Huffington Post political columnist.
We discuss everything from the partisan wrangling in Washington to Wall Street, wars and diplomatic chess games around the world. Tomorrow night we will be talking about the new face of Iran.
My goal is to inspire spirited live debate and discussion and include the audience in the process. But while Spreecast has many assets, it comes with its own set of challenges.
There is little or no tolerance for cross-talk (tough some may hail this as a good thing).
There are synchronization issues between participants in different locations, which leads to awkward-seeming pauses in the conversation. And although we can invite people to join the audience by sharing a link, they have to sign in through Facebook, Twitter, or email.
This deters many potential viewers, especially those not so Internet savvy. Spreecast also charges content producers to download to gain custody of their content -not very conducive to attracting today’s rising tide of independent journalists.
Meanwhile, ooVoo emerged as a great video alternative to Skype. Until recently you could record events at no charge. But an unheralded software upgrade changed the ooVoo proposition and simultaneously wrecked an important planned event of my own.
I had an ooVoo interview scheduled with a scholar from the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC on the latest in the Middle East. At the appointed time I suddenly could not log into my ooVoo account.
A message popped up that a new version was available and I needed to download it first. When I tried installing it, I got another message saying I needed to upgrade my Mac Book Pro with new software. I rescheduled my interview.
A few conversations with Apple and Oovoo support later, and I was back in business. Upgrade and downloads done. When it came time for my rescheduled interview and I logged onto ooVoo, I looked for the record, button; it was nowhere to be found.
Only then did ooVoo support inform me that after all that effort, the new ooVoo software does not work on Macs.
I could only record using on a PC. That does not help when my guest is waiting on the other end. I don’t have a PC. Later, this year says ooVoo, they will allow Apple users to record an event. In the meantime, I wonder how many users will drift away from ooVoo?
So lessons from recent experiences : Expect the unexpected and be flexible.
Two years ago -I never imagined I would be doing on-line broadcasting.
But now platforms like Spreecast have the potential to transform journalism and television. But in the short term, assess them carefully – and bring plenty of patience.
* Check out Politics IS Sexy! under Eszther's name on spreecast.com. tonight and every Wednesday live at 7pm ET (midnight UK time ) , or play recorded editions anytime on demand. Also Check out Eszther's Hometown Talents & Treasures on YouTube and Facebook.