DenverPost.com/al Dia Introduces Editorial Videos in Spanish

DenverPost.com/al Dia Introduces Editorial Videos in Spanish

DENVER, March 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Raising the bar for Spanish-language online newspapers, DenverPost.com/al Dia is placing streaming videos with editorial content and archived video links on its homepage.

While video-formatted content is commonplace on newspaper web sites, several of which produce Spanish-language editions, DenverPost.com/al Dia is the first nationally to feature video clips with Spanish-language voiceovers.

In a city whose population is more than 35 percent Hispanic, "It's important for newspapers like The Denver Post to reach everyone in the community," said Howard Saltz, The Post's associate editor/new media and strategic development.

"Most companies recognize the need to be inclusive, but the newspaper business is unique in that our product is meant to be read. If you cannot read English, our product has little value to you. That all changes with Denver Post al Dia: Hispanics can read local stories and listen to editorial videos in their native language. We're happy we can serve a growing segment of our community."

Translated and produced by Digital Media Communications (DMC), headquartered in Denver, DenverPost.com/al Dia and its 30-second editorial videos make local news more accessible to a Spanish-speaking audience using a cost-effective delivery system.

"What The Post did was breakthrough because they launched a Spanish-language platform without having to create an entire division with bilingual staff," said DMC cofounder and CEO Evan Neubeiser. "Denver's Hispanic population likes The Post content, but they like to read it in Spanish. We translate The Post's local content and create videos of selected stories."

What's even more impressive is that DMC performs these services by means of a direct interface with The Post's online publishing system, Dashboard. Every night The Post's online editors send DMC an email listing stories and related artwork for the next day's edition of DenverPost.com/al Dia. DMC accesses Dashboard, downloads and translates stories and photo cut-lines, and creates headlines and videos, if needed. Early the next morning, DMC uploads, schedules, and determines placement of translated stories and videos. The site then goes live -- all in a turnaround time of between one and 12 hours. "A lot easier said than done," said Neubeiser.

In addition to creating videos, video effects, and voiceovers, DMC writes custom tags ("Este video es presentado por Denver Post punto com"), encodes the file with Flash (Internet video viewing format), and places it inside an interactive skin that includes the journalists' name, contact information, and a link to the original story. The skin also contains ad space that can be marketed to advertisers.

"What's really exciting about our relationship with The Post is that we enable something to exist that didn't exist before," Neubeiser said. "The Post can find people to translate, but we provide staff to support translation and overnight video production capability as well as the technical savvy to work within the newspaper's publishing system seven days a week, every day of the year. That The Post trusts us to interact directly with its system, consistently deliver these services, and enable an online Spanish-language newspaper for Denver's Hispanic community is very rewarding."

DenverPost.com/al Dia clearly has its finger on the pulse of the Hispanic audience. An America Online/Roper ASW U.S. Hispanic Cyberstudy (April 2004-2005) found that 34 percent of online Hispanics regularly or occasionally watch video clips compared to 23 percent of the general population. In addition, 67 percent of Hispanics who speak some Spanish and 49 percent of all Hispanics online desire more websites with content of interest to Hispanic Americans.

Author Tim Porter, associate director of Tomorrow's Workforce -- a newsroom development project, provides further evidence. Writing for the American Journalism Review, he estimated that by 2006 one in five Americans would be Hispanic. He also noted that Hispanic spending power grows 8.7 percent annually, nearly twice that of non-Hispanics.

About the Denver Newspaper Agency

The Denver Newspaper Agency publishes The Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News under a joint operating agreement designed to preserve editorial competition. Combined business operations are managed by the Agency, which is equally owned by MediaNews Group and The E.W. Scripps Co.

About Digital Media Communications

Digital Media Communications (DMC) is a turnkey digital video creation company serving newspaper companies throughout the U.S. and Canada. DMC produces Internet videos and TV shows in English, Spanish and French Canadian. Two production facilities, translators, script writers, voice talent and 25 digital video editors work around the clock to provide turnaround speeds consistent with requirements of the newspaper industry.

Source: Denver Newspaper Agency

CONTACT: Jim Nolan, Director of Communication, +1-303-892-2900, or cell,
+1-303-981-3356, Jnolan@denvernewspaperagency.com, or DeAnne Minner,
+1-303-892-5132, dminner@denvernewspaperagency.com, both of Denver Newspaper
Agency; or Evan Neubeiser of Digital Media Communications, +1-303-292-3899,
eneubeiser@digitalmediaclassifieds.com

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