Goldman Sachs explainer proves that business videos are hard to do
How the government says Goldman Sachs defrauded investors
USA Today proves that business videos are hard to do… to do well.
This ambitious video combines graphics and animation to try to explain what happened with Goldman Sachs. Did they succeed? You be the judge.
This really is a big project and no doubt took several writers, illustrators and producers a lot of time to put together. But it seems to fall short because it mixes graphics and video in a way that doesn’t use either to its full potential.
The result is a short video which tells the story of Goldman Sachs that appears a little too computer-generated. In fact, it looks like it may appear in a Second Life version of USA Today.
I don’t mean to be too critical of this effort by USAToday. In fact, I stumbled upon this video while looking around the Web for good examples of business video stories. I did not come up with too many good examples.
Business videos are not easy to do. A search of major newspaper web sites reveals few really great ones. And multi-media or Web journalism is harder still. Here are some examples to check out:
- New York Times: Business Video library
- The Washington Post features business news videos from Bloomberg.
- LA Times had a busy business video page with stories from KTLA and original videos.
- More videos from USAToday’s Money pages which compile AP and original videos.
And for graphics (and the occasional video), take a look at the Business & Money section ofGood.is.
Love to see examples of good business videos and good business video graphics. If you have some, paste them in the comments below. We’ll share.
USA Today’s description: “The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Goldman Sachs and one of its executives, Fabrice Tourre, with civil fraud. The agency says they created and sold an investment in 2007 without telling the buyers a key fact: it was designed to fail.”
Here’s one that works. It’s a multimedia presentation on the financial crisis that won a Business and Financial Reporting Emmy in 2009: http://www.cfr.org/publication/19710/crisis_guide.html
Here’s another one I like, and it’s about as simple as the Emmy-winning financial crisis one is complex. BusinessJournalism.org blogger Rosland Gammon wrote about Marketplace Money’s Marketplace Whiteboard videos, which explain complex economics: http://businessjournalism.org/2010/02/05/marketplace-money-uses-simple-videos-to-explain-complex-economics/
You can also google most of SABEW’s 2010 Best in Business winners and find great examples.
CNBC’s Boom, Bust and Blame picked up the top prize for large websites: http://www.cnbc.com/id/31187744/
No. 2: The Associated Press: “AP Stress Index”
No. 3: The New York Times: “Living With Less”
The real trick is doing great Web journalism with smaller budgets.
Here are the winners in the mid-size category:
No. 1: GlobalPost: “Living in the Shadows”
No. 2: The (Nashville) Tennessean: “Life On Hold”
No. 3: GlobalPost: “Silicon Sweatshops”
GlobalPost does great work… in some beautiful, exotic places. Check out this slideshow (would have made a nice soundslide):
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/united-kingdom/100714/prince-charles%E2%80%99s-crusade-against-rural-decline