Sun-Sentinel outdoes the NFL
Let me preface this with a rundown of the National Football League’s new rules on using NFL-related videos. Basically, the NFL wants to drive viewers from their local newspaper’s Web site to the brand new NFL.com. They are doing this by allowing only 45 seconds worth of NFL video per day on your local newspaper’s Web site.
“NFL video” is basically defined as any video of players or coaches taken inside an NFL team’s facility or at an NFL sanctioned event including games, practices, locker room footage, etc.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, a newspaper out of Broward, Fla., which I had the privilege of working for as an online media and video intern this summer, has found a way to keep bringing new visual information to the Dolfans of South Florida without breaking the NFL’s new rules. Tiffany Ellis, a videojournalist at The Sun-Sentinel, decided that a Dolphins beat writer should give a rundown of recent Dolphin activity while photos, stats and short video clips cut across the video in interesting ways. Ellis’ production coupled with Sun-Sentinel Dolphins beat writer Harvey Fialkov’s impeccable timing and presence in front of the camera have produced gold for their South Florida readership.
Check out some of Ellis’ videos on the paper’s Web site.
I thought it was a slap in the face of the football fans across America that the NFL would take away the most interesting aspect of hyperlocal sports coverage–video. I am glad to see that there are smart, young journalists like Ellis who can keep bringing readers their news in new, interesting ways. Her Dolphins videos are viewed thousands of times a day showing that her efforts and originality are much appreciated.
