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For
almost an hour, thousands of people watched a masked beekeeper
from the New York City Police Department painstakingly remove
some 25,000 bees with a low-power vacuum.
It may have been just a piece of light news on an August
afternoon, but it illustrated a widening trend.
"People like to watch things in real time,” said Natalie
Armstrong, who manages live coverage for Reuters Digital in New
York.
Reuters carries an average of 20 live broadcasts daily
(https://www.reuters.tv/live), streaming raw footage from events
around the globe. At times, we may have as many as six live
video feeds running simultaneously on our digital platforms,
often in different languages. Some feeds come directly from
Reuters video journalists and others are supplied by TV stations
that are Reuters clients and share content.
The New York City’s bee swarm already ranks as one of the
most-watched live broadcasts this year, according to our
internal tracking software. More weighty news events also draw
big audiences.
All live broadcasts capitalize on the power of social media to
quickly attract large audiences, whether the event lasts a few
minutes or hours.
Some of the most popular live broadcasts include a May 10 press
conference following a meeting of Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia’s
new prime minister, and Malaysia’s King Sultan Muhammad V.;
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s two-day testimony in April
before the U.S. Congress; and the June 5 court arrival of movie
producer Harvey Weinstein, who was charged with rape and sexual
misconduct.
Science-related topics, like the SpaceX Falcon test launch
(http://www.reuters.tv/l/w7C/2018/02/06/spacex-falcon-heavy-debut-test-launch-with-tesla-roadster-payload)
and Mars explorations
(http://www.reuters.tv/l/PY0A/2018/07/25/scientist-briefing-after-detecting-liquid-water-on-mars),
also attract large audiences because of interesting graphics and
“the cool-factor,” Armstrong said.
Airing live streams presents certain challenges, such as graphic
content after violent events or unchecked profanity. To the
extent possible, Reuters tries to warn viewers in advance that
they may see or hear something that they could find disturbing.
And unlike Reuters news stories, live broadcasts may feature a
speech from a rally or press conference that is not fact-checked
or is missing context, and sensitive information that may not be
public might end up being heard over an open microphone.
(Reporting by Lauren Young; Editing by Toni Reinhold)
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Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
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