Five questions for Nick Grudin, Vice President of Strategy and Enterprises, Newsweek
Wednesday, January 27, 2010 | 8:00 AM
One of our main goals at YouTube is to help content partners succeed with online video and find an audience and our site -- and news partners are no exception. We've been working with Newsweek to provide videos and commentary in the run up to President Obama's State of the Union address this evening. We asked users to submit their thoughts and questions about important policy issues, and Newsweek convened a panel of experts to provide answers and engage in conversation with the YouTube community. (You can find all these videos today on the YouTube homepage, and a few throughout this post.)
Newsweek has been creating video for their website for some time, and has uploaded hundreds of videos to their YouTube channel on a variety of topics. In this interview, Nick Grudin, Newsweek's Vice President of Strategy and Enterprises, talked to us about the role of video at a newsmagazine, changes in the journalism industry, and how YouTube helps Newsweek bring important news content to a larger audience.
1. Why did you think YouTube would be a good place for Newsweek's experts' discussions?
Newsweek generates some very high quality original video content and we regularly look for cross-promotion opportunities on platforms beyond Newsweek.com. YouTube has proven to be an excellent partner on these initiatives, particularly when we're looking for broader distribution among new audiences.
2. How did you approach these experts and get them to participate in this new, unique format?
This is what Newsweek does best. Our editors opened their contact books to convene some of the top thinkers on the most pressing issues facing Americans today, including our international editor, Fareed Zakaria, who will contribute his point of view on the state of our education system.
3. What demographic does Newsweek hope to reach with this content, and how do you think of that audience compared to those who read the magazine in print and on the web?
This content is appealing to a wide demographic -- not just those interested in politics. There is a slightly different group of folks that engage with our content in print versus online, but the one thing they have in common is an appetite to consume information on what matters most in their lives. That's what we strive to do. By convening the world's leading thinkers on the most pressing topics of the day, Newsweek delivers a broad perspective to a wide and intellectually engaged audience. In a different way, we see this as one of YouTube's great strengths as well.
4. For a news magazine, Newsweek uploads a lot of original content to YouTube. How important is video becoming to Newsweek and print journalism generally?
Video has become critical to our story-telling repertoire, and we're constantly looking to expand our audience and distribution for it. From interview series such as the Newsweek-YouTube State of the Union project and Newsweek's annual Oscar Roundtables, to feature reporting, such as "COMPTON: Gang Wars Take Their Toll," we are committed to applying Newsweek's unique lens to the video format.
5. How is Newsweek positioning itself given recent changes to the news industry?
Newsweek is evolving with the continuous shift in the media landscape. In an age of information overload, we see our role as a filter for what matters most as more important than ever before. We are committed to finding our audience wherever and however they prefer to be reached, from reading Newsweek Magazine in their living room, to following our stories on Twitter or Tumblr, to watching a YouTube video on their smartphone.