The rise of vertical video

Daniel Lewis explains how he's making it easier to watch CNN videos on your phone

View in browser An exclusive inside look with your free CNN account 📹 His team highlights big news moments on video for CNN's digital audience   By Daniel Wine CNN senior producer Daniel Lewis Daniel Lewis remembers the moment clearly.   It was April 2020, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, when President Donald Trump floated the idea during a news briefing that people might be able to inject bleach as a possible cure.   "I was so taken aback by what he said and worried that covering his remarks could possibly encourage people to do that," Lewis said. "I quickly realized this claim was going to be talked about all over the world and wanted to see what medical experts in the room did when he said this."   Lewis, now a senior producer on CNN's Digital Video team, pulled up the cutaway camera from the briefing and said he was struck by Dr. Deborah Birx's reaction.   "You could tell she was visibly upset and shaken by what Trump said," Lewis recalled. "I chose to publish that moment, and her reaction went viral. We were the first media outlet to notice that, and I think it was important to show audiences because there was so much deflection in the White House about Trump's controversial remarks. Showing this moment gave our audience a glimpse of the truth."   Those are the kinds of moments that Lewis and his colleagues on the video team highlight every day for CNN's digital audience.   Lewis, an Atlanta native, graduated from college at nearby Kennesaw State University and joined CNN in 2010. He has been instrumental in building the network's presence on YouTube and TikTok.   We caught up with Lewis for a chat recently, and the following is an edited version of our conversation.   How did you get started in video? I got started in college. When I settled on journalism as a major, I was drawn to video editing and production. I saw newspapers dying around the country and wanted to make sure I knew how to do more than just write and report.   What is a typical day like? Sometimes we'll re-edit a TV segment and publish it as a vertical video for our mobile audience. Other times, we'll write, track, edit and publish a vertical video about a story that CNN's television networks aren't covering. Some of our field reporters now have phones equipped with special equipment to shoot vertical videos in the field that can be fed back to us quickly for editing. Nic Robertson has done an amazing job with some of these field videos recently in Israel.   Tell me about the rise of vertical video. Everyone recognizes that one of the most popular video formats on social media platforms is 9x16 vertical video. Every day, the video and social teams are creating more videos that are designed to be consumed on your phone. That requires a lot of video editing to convert horizontal 16x9 footage that was filmed for television.   But anyone who consumes vertical videos on any social platform knows this format is more than just an aspect ratio. People consuming video on their phones generally have much shorter attention spans. The intro for vertical videos needs to be strong or viewers will swipe away. So we are re-editing and re-structuring CNN's content so it can reach the massive audiences on social platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. We recently rolled out a vertical video player on CNN.com. It's still in Beta, but we are hoping to attract younger viewers with this content. Earlier this year, the Digital Video team received a YouTube plaque for reaching 15 million subscribers on the platform.  Tell me more about CNN's presence on YouTube. CNN has the most subscribers of any English-speaking news channel on YouTube, but that wasn't always the case. In 2017 we changed strategies, and it really was a turning point for CNN's flagship channel. On most social platforms, what is shown to audiences is determined by an algorithm. The most important factor for earning views on algorithmic platforms is figuring out what metrics the algorithm prioritizes and tailoring content to hit those metrics. We pay close attention to what stories our audience is interested in, and we focus our uploads on those topics. Ever since CNN made this strategy adjustment on YouTube, we saw exponential growth.   What about TikTok? The Digital Video team started doing more work on TikTok in March of this year, and we've added almost 2 million followers in about eight months. We've seen incredible growth in views and followers using a similar strategy that we implemented on YouTube. We figure out what stories our audience is engaging with the most and optimize content to hit metrics that the TikTok algorithm prioritizes. Headlines are much less important on TikTok because most viewership comes to the For You Page and viewers are dropped straight into a video. So I've been telling producers to prioritize intros and videos that earn engagements: likes, shares and comments. TikTok is one of the fastest-growing social platforms, and users are consuming news on it more and more. Our goal is to get CNN's reporting to the widest possible audience.   What are some other things the Digital Video team does? What don't we do? We publish content from CNN's TV networks, including reporter packages, interviews and show segments. We also program all videos across CNN.com, the app, our domestic channel of short-form videos and 'over the top' streaming devices. We curate the top stories on CNN.com with our videos. The most important thing we do is tailor our video content for each platform. Every digital/social platform is different, and getting views on those platforms requires a different strategy. We love finding the perfect headline and format so CNN's incredible reporting can reach the largest possible audience.   Do you have any advice for people who are interested in a career like yours? If you want to make videos, you need to think very carefully about ideas and packaging. Production and how you create videos matters, but the best-produced video will not find an audience online if it's about a topic your audience doesn't care about and isn't presented with a compelling headline, thumbnail or intro. You should have a good idea for your headline, thumbnail and intro before you start production. Writing headlines and knowing your audience are some of the most important skills in digital journalism. 💳   CNN insider rec of the week Brought to you by CNN Underscored Whether you're driving or flying, the holiday travel rush has begun — and it's forecasted to be the busiest ever recorded. We gathered some of the top travel professionals out there to give us some of their best advice for the upcoming end-of-year holidays. 💳  Sponsor Content by CompareCards Follow these simple steps to pay off $10K in credit card debt Ready to break free from the chains of credit card debt? Join our debt demolition squad and learn the secrets to swift and successful debt repayment. 📝 a note from the editors Starting next week, our partners at CNN Public Relations will be providing you an inside look at the network in this newsletter. As we roll off to other projects, we wanted to thank you for your input and readership. Keep emailing Inside CNN with your ideas and thoughts!     - Kyle Almond, Tricia Escobedo, Erica Hernandez, Kimberly Richardson, Leighton Rowell and Daniel Wine  INSIDE CNN An exclusive inside look with your free CNN account You are receiving this newsletter because you created a free CNN account.    No longer want to receive this newsletter? Unsubscribe. 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