Reinventing local news for Instagram
Awards submission
How do we reach an audience that doesn’t know we’re their local news source? That was a big question for CAI in 2023.
We have a dedicated loyal listenership: the NPR audience who switches us on to find out about daily news and important regional issues. But many people, especially younger people, aren’t familiar with NPR and don’t even know to go looking for us.
A lot of those people spend a lot of their time watching videos on Instagram. We wanted our news coverage in front of their eyeballs.
(tldr: side-by-side comparisons of web post, audio, and Instagram video for 7 news stories are at the bottom of this post; skip ahead to get right to them)
The plan
Within our small newsroom (2 full-time reporters and several part-timers), we decided to experiment with creating vertical videos to increase the reach of our reporting.
For this effort, we focused on the issue-based local reporting that is our strength. Along with filing a story for radio and the website, reporters also worked with our digital producer to script their story into a short (less than 90 seconds) hand-held video for Instagram.
They considered:
- key elements of each story
- graphics
- transitions
- captions
- make it engaging!
Reporters then filmed themselves—which was important. We wanted the videos to feel authentic, as a reporter speaking directly to the viewer; and we couldn’t afford to assign camera operators, etc.
The reporters sent the raw video to the digital producer, who edited and added the video elements.
The results
A success. Our 7 experimental short videos in 2023 racked up 38,971 views in total. For our small station, in a small market, this was a lot of new-audience engagement being driven by our mission: reporting local news to the community.
We are continuing to make videos and encouraging our radio listeners to join us on this social media platform, as well.
What we learned
Video is not easy: Radio reporters, by necessity, have come to some peace with the sound of their own voices. Now we were asking them to put themselves in front of the camera. Ugh.
Radio stories are already built to be compressed for time. 90 seconds for a video? No problem. That’s twice as long as a typical news spot! We can do it. And while all our videos co-exist with feature-length stories, the skill of artful story compression is one we know well.
Having a script template helps. Just as a radio story must have a narrative arc, which doesn’t need to be re-invented every time, so too does a short news video.
Having a video template helps. Create a video template for your station: logo, font for captions, typical transitions. Final editing is best done in the native Instagram app.
Reporters: get the right phone app. After some trial and error, we identified an app that allows reporters to use teleprompter and green screen functions, simplifying the process.
Examples below: website story is on left, vertical video is on the right.
Depending on your browser, the Instagram embed may not load: click into the block to see the short video.
STORY: Students imagine new life for New Bedford firehouse – with affordable housing and minimal carbon footprint
Web Story 
A new generation of architecture students is facing a reality that climate change will radically alter how buildings are conceived, and they’re the ones who will have to find solutions. But first, they have to learn how. And this unique building in New Bedford offers a perfect test case.
| Instagram Reel |
STORY: Sharks are spending time in the deep ocean, but why? WHOI scientist explains new research
Web Story
Eric Savetsky
Scientists put tiny sensors on almost 350 fish from 12 species of predators, including tuna, white sharks, and swordfish.
| Instagram Reel |
STORY: Construction waste clogs landfills, worsens climate change. Two women's solution: salvage it instead
Web Story
Construction waste clogs landfills, worsens climate change. Two women's solution: salvage it instead
In 2017, Ann Jarosiewicz and Liz Prete left their jobs as developers and started WasteNot, a building materials recycling company on Cape Cod. Since then, they’ve diverted over an acre of hardwood flooring, roughly 570 kitchen cabinets, and 500 windows from landfills.
| Instagram Reel |
STORY: Barnstable County officials support EPA findings against proposed machine gun range
A meeting marked the first discussion by a local governing body of the Environmental Protection Agency draft findings. The Barnstable County Commission plans to vote on a statement formally supporting the EPA's findings at its next meeting. That will be on May 24, the same day the EPA will hold a hearing for members of the public who want to comment on the draft report.
|
STORY: 'Abortion desert' on Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard getting more access — but not for all
Several clinics in the region will start offering the nationally contested abortion pill mifepristone in July. But for patients who can't use it, the burden of travel remains.
|
STORY: Solar panels in historic districts: who decides where 'modern' fits?
Web Post
Eve Zuckoff
The 45,000 people who live in Cape Cod's Old Kings Highway Historic District are required to get approval from local committees for visible solar installations. Those who have had their solar plans challenged or denied have described the committees’ decisions as inconsistent, arbitrary, and subjective.
| Instagram Reel |
STORY: Something’s fishy: Scientists, Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe work to solve mysteries of stripers, herring
Web Story
Eve Zuckoff
Something’s fishy: Scientists, Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe work to solve mysteries of stripers, herring
Something strange seems to be happening with striped bass on Martha’s Vineyard. Scientists and Aquinnah Wampanoag tribal officials think a small population of the fish could be defying their migratory nature. And that, in turn, could be impeding efforts to restore a second fish species: herring.
| Instagram Reel |