Journalism.co.uk Editors' Blog » Scott Douglas

YouTube success for Deadline Press & Picture Agency

Laura Oliver — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:22:12 +0000

Footage of a penguin at Edinburgh Zoo receiving a knighthood from the Norwegian army has helped push Deadline Press & Picture Agency’s YouTube channel into the top 100 most viewed on the site.

The Deadline News TV channel was rated 97th most viewed in the UK this week thanks, in part, to the clip, which has at time of writing attracted 29,654 views.

The success of the agency’s video offering, which was launched in May, has been echoed by the growth of its recently established blog, which acts as a portfolio for the agency’s work.

The blog recently made it into Wordpress’ top 100 fastest growing blogs, amassing 21,743 page impressions across 117 posts by August 6.

“We’ve been getting consistent hits to Deadline News TV since it was launched and what’s clear is that the audience keeps growing,” said Scott Douglas, Deadline founder, in a press release.

“We might be relatively new to the online arena, but it seems we are doing something right and we will continue to develop that further.”

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Deadline reporter cleared of interview impersonation charge

Laura Oliver — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:32:44 +0000

Lauren Crooks, a reporter with Scottish press agency Deadline, has been cleared of impersonating a court official to gain an interview.

Crooks was cleared of the charge on Friday after a year spent fighting the allegation and eight court appearances, the agency has said in a press release.

The reporter was arrested in August 2007 following an interview with an assault victim, whose case she had been covering at Edinburgh’s Sheriff Court.

Despite giving out her business card, the interviewee contacted police to say they had only agreed to the interview because Crooks she said she was a court official.

Crooks said she ‘couldn’t have been any clearer’ in making her position as a reporter known during the interview, even making requests for photographs to be set up for a Sunday newspaper

“I have spent 20 years in the Scottish media and everyone I have spoken to has expressed nothing but disbelief that this should have happened at all. I dread to think how much this ludicrous case has cost the taxpayer in wasted police, procurator fiscal and court time,” said Scott Douglas, founder of Deadline, in the release.

“Even more sinister is why a police force - already under fire for its deliberate erosion of media relations – went to such lengths to pursue a reporter and an agency with an unblemished reputation on a case which didn’t stand up to even the most basic scrutiny.”

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Press agency Deadline reaps online rewards

Laura Oliver — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:48:20 +0000

“The simple fact was that we had no need of a website. It would have cost thousands of pounds to produce and wouldn’t have made an iota of difference to our business supplying the daily newspapers,” said Scott Douglas, founder of Deadline Press & Picture Agency.

But since setting up a YouTube channel for the agency’s video content and launching a Wordpress blog featuring articles in May, Deadline’s online content has shown strong traffic growth.

The site made it into Wordpress’ list of the 100 fastest growing blog sites on the platform at 94.

The blog has recorded 21,743 page impressions across 117 posts, while Deadline News TV has attracted 40,221 views for 40 videos as of August 5.

The agency has implemented a solution, harnessing the power of third-party websites, which is low cost, but high impact

“Our blog site immediately plugged a gap by allowing us to showcase our work every day – and reach an audience who may not otherwise see it. Our journalists and photographers still put in the old fashioned legwork to get pictures and stories. It can be frustrating when those are not picked up by the daily newspapers,” said Lauren Crooks, news editor with Deadline.

“Now we can ensure our stories, pictures and video reports will always find an audience.”

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