When The Herald's Bridget Carey shot her first video reviews two years ago, she used her old webcam from college for the taping and her cramped bedroom for a studio. The lighting was whatever came through her window, so more than once her tapes were ruined when clouds moved in, and she'd have to wait for a sunny patch.

But right from the start, Bridget's rapid-fire delivery and spunky intelligence were a big hit with viewers. Today, her ``60 Second'' technology reviews are among the most popular segments on MiamiHerald.com. Next month they start running nationally on PBS' Nightly Business Report as well.

Bridget's weekly reports are part of a broad expansion into all kinds of video -- from sports to business, criticism to entertainment, on-the-street news reports to studio productions -- that are now a central part of the paper's website. In a little more than a year, these videos have grown to be the second most-watched content on the site, with about a half million viewers each month.

This has, in turn, prompted a lot of discussion about what new segments to add and where we should take the programming and news coverage in the long run.

Some directions are obvious. You may have noticed the live video running on the website in recent weeks from such events as the Americas Conference, a Miami mayoral candidate debate and first lady Michelle Obama's visit to Miami.

We're also working on expanding sports offerings, which draw the most traffic of all, and launching fresh segments on politics, cooking and real estate. ``We're looking at a lot of different things,'' said Rick Hirsch, senior editor for multimedia.

When the newsroom first decided to move more into videos, all sorts of questions came up: Would a staff raised on print and still photography be able to pull this off? How would our emphasis on local and regional news go over in a Youtube world? What should the style, length and tone of the videos be?

The answers have come out of a steady stream of experimentation by an initial dozen or so reporters, critics and photographers, including sports writer Jeff Darlington, TV critic Glenn Garvin, videographers Chuck Fadely and Jose Iglesias and Bridget, to mention a few.

Each gradually shaped their approaches, which were all improved with the opening of a state-of-the-art studio in the newsroom in January and a steadily better understanding for how the video and the rest of the coverage fit together.

``There are some stories that are best told in print,'' said Karen Burkett, who runs the studio with producer Mary Killeen. ``There are some best told in photography. And there are some that you can only tell with video. What this has done is added a new and different way of storytelling.''

We tell you all this now in part because it's clear that video will become an increasingly important part of The Herald's coverage. This means we'll look for good ideas, criticisms and suggestions. We're also working on making it far easier for readers to submit their own videos to the website.

The success of Bridget's reviews shows that you don't have to start with vast experience. The beauty of some of the new multimedia elements is that anyone interested -- reporters and readers alike -- can instantly have impact.

``It's been a lot of fun,'' Bridget said. ``And a lot of challenges. It's something different every week.''

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@