This story first appeared on RJI’s Futures Lab. Reporting by Katy Mersmann, Rachel Wise, Berkeley Lovelace, Blair Ussary and Reuben Stern.
This week we explore how Vox.com is crafting successful video for its Facebook audience, and we find out about a new technology that could help connect teams of journalists as they cover the news.
PART 1: Vox.com’s Facebook video
A video commentary about Donald Trump featuring Vox.com’s editor Ezra Klein racked up more than 38 million views and half a million shares on Facebook in less than six weeks. We find out from team members at Vox.com how that successful example fits into a larger strategy that looks outside traditional metrics to figure out what kind of video works — or doesn’t — on individual platforms.
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PART 2: Onyx by Orion Labs
A San Francisco-based startup has created a clip-on, real-time voice communication device that might help teams of journalists converse with each other more easily. We sat down with Jesse Robbins, founder and CEO of Orion Labs, to find out where the technology is headed.
[To skip directly to this segment in YouTube, click here.]
Additional information:
Orion is taking pre-orders for the Onyx on its website, with shipping expected to start in June. The device is sold individually or slightly discounted in packs of two or 12. The company recently raised $9 million of investment funding, according to Venture Beat.
Reuben Stern is the deputy director of the Futures Lab at the Reynolds Journalism Institute and host and co-producer of the weekly Futures Lab video update.
The Reynolds Journalism Institute’s Futures Lab video update features a roundup of fresh ideas, techniques and developments to help spark innovation and change in newsrooms across all media platforms. Visit the RJI website for the full archive of Futures Lab videos, or download the receive email notification of each new episode.