We all know video channels are the next step for news. It’s one thing if you’re The Atlantic or The Huffington Post. But smaller, regional publications are making the move, too. And it has been a slow, evolving process.

Phillyburbs.com, a Calkins Media Group website based in suburban Philadelphia, has been transitioning its print papers online for the past decade and it’s starting to get serious about video content. The Bucks County Courier Times, one of the group’s papers (and for the record, where my mother works), recently launched The Courier Times Update, a ten minute news broadcast that goes live on their website at 2pm every day. Rachel Canelli, the host of the update, has transitioned from a strictly print reporter to the Courier’s go-to video reporter over the past few years. She doesn’t have any broadcast experience, but like most mid-market journalists these days, she’s learned how produce her own video segments.

 Ever since we had a website, we’ve done video. But it was more random. Three years ago we started a weekly segment called Buzz In Bucks and that evolved from man on the street interviews and hard news to more feature content. Two years ago, we started doing daily news video. That’s when they started handing out iPhones and cameras – it was a big investment, and then everyone was expected to do video. And the photographers got in because the had the capability to shoot video. Within the last year or so, we hired the video consultant and bringing in new players – we hired a new CEO and general manager and we started to put an emphasis on moving to video, by investing in equipment and software to add advertisements into the videos.

How many of you are sitting in a newsroom struggling to stay relevant? It’s not easy. For the team at the Courier, it was about hiring Canelli to head the update, and repurposing other reporters and photographers in the newsroom to add more video content. It’s a bit of a scramble.  Read more

Digital First Media announced today that it is creating a national curation team as part of its centralized news operation. That operation, called Thunderdome, will be produced by Digital First’s MediaNews Group and Journal Register Company. The content from Thunderdome will be distributed to its 800 multi-platform products in an effort to bolster the quality of its newsrooms. Julie Westfall will lead the team with Angela Carter and Karen Workman joining as curators. Read more

When I was in college, we didn’t have Twitter*. But if I had, there are plenty of accounts I would have followed closely — and they would have extended far beyond my own social circle. I’d have included all of the accounts USA Today picked for its round-up of Nine Twitter accounts every journalism student should follow and hundreds more.

Their list is a round-up of journo-talking heads, news organizations and organizations devoted to journalism. The paper’s quick-hit list notes, “The folks below… may not be ‘masters’ of the craft, but they do have their fingers on the pulse of modern journalism. Following them should help you raise your Twitter game significantly.” Among those who made their cut:

• The Critic: NYU professor and blogger Jay Rosen
• The Maven: NPR social media guru Andy Carvin
• The ‘Bible’: The keepers of writing style everywhere, AP Stylebook
• The News: At least, according to the New York Times mix of bloggers, The Lede
• And several more, related to jobs, industry news and more. Check out the full list (and contributor suggestions) at USA Today.

Instead of focusing on specific accounts, I wanted to outline the TYPES of accounts journalists (students, professionals and aspiring professionals) should be following.

They include:

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