Video is a powerful news medium that allows journalists to convey complex information, make emotional impact and promote understanding of sensitive issues. However, integrating it into a newsroom requires an investment in equipment and staff. And monetizing videos can be difficult without a clear strategy for distribution and engagement. As technology evolves, it may offer even more exciting new possibilities for video news.
We examined 377 channels on YouTube that regularly cover current events and news. Of these, about half were affiliated with a news organization – either the official channel for a media outlet or a channel focused on a specific program or show. The remainder were independent channels that focus on a single host or news topic. A team of human coders examined the videos published by these channels in December 2019. They looked at topics, tone and other characteristics such as whether the channel was political or not.
The most popular of the news organizations on YouTube is CNN, whose slogan is “All the news that’s fit to print.” CNN has more than a million subscribers, making it one of the most widely-watched news channels online. But it’s not the only news source that has seen success on YouTube: other big-name outlets, including Fox News and NBC News, have been able to attract viewers to their channels as well. Our analysis found that the typical news organization channel produced 33 videos per month in December 2019, with a median video length of about five minutes. They were most often short segments on a particular topic, or repackaged content from other sources.