How Talking Points Memo Gets News First with SnapStream
“在我们的领域和我们的竞争对手的领域，新闻发生得很快, so obviously, not only is it important to be accurate in everything we do, but also being quick and being the first to spot things that are newsworthy ... 政治新闻网站副主编保罗•韦德尔表示:“这是一种真正的竞争优势。 Talking Points Memo (TPM).
What’s got Werdel talking about being fast and accurate is SnapStream 视频录制和转录服务激发了依赖它的人的盲目奉献. It makes searching through hours of recorded material a snap, so editors can grab the clips they need quickly. It’s used by The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 收集政客说错话的完美时刻. 这是一种罕见的产品，它的效果像制造商说的那样好.
Werdel帮助管理TPM的纽约分部，在那里SnapStream持续记录八个新闻频道. TPM records cable news heavyweights such as CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC, as well as C-SPAN, CNBC, Bloomberg, and a few rotating channels. 它24小时记录这些频道的所有报道，并将录音转化为大部分准确的转录. TPM编辑使用该服务来查找可用于快速新闻报道或验证事实的片段. TPM新闻编辑室里有几个人负责收听主要有线电视网络的突发新闻，并挖掘有新闻价值的内容.
TPM的物理设置包括一个本地存储的SnapStream服务器，该服务器连接到八个时代华纳有线电视盒. TPM LAN上的所有记者都可以访问SnapStream软件，并接受过如何使用它的培训, so they can listen for stories and clip out video when needed.
“We have one lead video staffer who’s in charge of all our video operations, so he is far and away the biggest user of SnapStream,” says Werdel.
TPM需要快速视频的一个领域是100秒内的竞选功能, which gives readers a tongue-in-cheek look at the day’s happenings. It’s woven from newsworthy bits taken from the daily news programs.
“我们的视频编辑不断挖掘和搜索我们的SnapStream文本，不仅是为了找到当天最有新闻价值的片段, 但也有其他一些他想要围绕的有点愚蠢的零零碎碎,” says Werdel.
Election campaign debate nights are also busy times for TPM, 由于团队希望编辑素材，并尽快为网站访问者提供最好的视频亮点.
While Werdel typically delegates stories he wants clipped from SnapStream, he’s also a hands-on user of the platform, monitoring streams and clipping out video when needed. He also has to double as TPM’s SnapStream tech support on occasion, troubleshooting the platform on rare occasions.
The SnapStream Workflow
TPM通常的工作流程是这样的:Werdel在新闻节目中看到他想要的东西, setting several tasks in motion at once. He sends his video guy a request to clip out a section of video, letting him know that it’s a priority. The video guy then finds and grabs the video, converting it from MPEG to DV and polishing it in Final Cut Pro. When finished, the video clip is exported to TPM’s YouTube channel.
Meanwhile, an editor works on the text story to go with the video clip. Once finished, the article and video are typically posted on TPM’s Livewire section, an area of the site devoted to short headlines and brief stories. Once live on YouTube, the clip can be embedded in a TPM story.
“我们的工作流程实际上是将内容从SnapStream上移到我们的渠道或网站上，这是一个非常顺利的过程,” says Werdel. “All I need to let anybody in my chain know is what I want, where it happened, and what time it happened or what the source was, just to help him out.”
While all in the same office, Werdel’s team communicates via Skype chat, which Werdel uses to dictate assignments to his editors.
有时，Werdel和他的编辑不得不依靠SnapStream的转录来验证他们是否准确地听到了引用. The built-in transcription is a rough guide, says Werdel. While the transcription is mostly accurate, 编辑仍然需要听视频，以确保它被正确转录. SnapStream is able to create transcripts nearly instantly, says Werdel. It outputs a long block of minimally formatted text.
“这就像在浏览器中搜索关键字来找到你想要的基本部分一样快, and then once I’ve found the section, 我可以把它归零，然后用它作为一个粗略的指导，通过听录音片段，回去得到一个精确的文字记录,” says Werdel.
Werdel对转录工具印象深刻的一点是，它通常可以理解谁在说话，并且可以为每个说话者创建一个新的换行符. The transcript also helps the editor locate the needed section of video, which makes for quick editing. The transcripts regularly add timestamps, so the editors can quickly find the section of video they want to clip out.
Werdel估计，他的团队使用SnapStream文本的次数和他们使用视频的次数一样多. 他们并不总是需要视频，但他们总是需要知道谁说了什么.
“It’s important to have quotes be 100% accurate. 任何严肃的新闻网站都不能错误地引用别人的话。”Werdel说.
SnapStream’s transcription isn’t a substitute for real reporting, notes Werdel, but it sure is a timesaver.
“在我使用它的经验中，我从来没有发现它遗漏了我真正需要的任何关键位，或者(严重拼写错误)导致它找不到我要找的东西,” says Werdel.
The transcription can understand proper names or accents, so it’s useful for capturing dialogue from any speaker.
“大多数关键词和转录似乎总是按照你想要的方式拼写, 这让事情变得更加可靠，成为一个使用起来更加快捷的工具,” he adds, calling it impressively accurate.
Clipping and Archiving
Recording eight streams of round-the-clock video takes a lot of storage, so TPM doesn’t keep video for long. 该网站只存储3天的视频，然后系统会自动删除. That gives the team plenty of time to isolate important material.
“如果某一天发生了我们认为没有新闻价值的事情, it is unlikely that we will return to it,” says Werdel.
Even if the editors don’t plan on using an item right away, they clip and archive material that they may want to use in the future. For some events, 当初选结束，大选开始时，编辑们不仅仅是存储单独的片段, for example, Werdel says they’ll save every debate. During the primaries, they’re only storing the highlights.
然而，在辩论期间，TPM编辑们让SnapStream经受了最艰难的考验. As editors watch the live debates, 他们经常检查SnapStream，以确认他们听到的报价是正确的. Werdel表示，他们通常会在两小时的辩论中与SnapStream进行数十次核对, verifying quotes before they put them in front of readers. 他们会先用抄本进行粗略的检查，然后去视频中获取文章的精确引用.
“In ways large and small, I would say we easily make use of it 100 times a day, sometimes even more,” says Werdel. “这是我们做事的基本方式之一，很容易被忘记，被认为是理所当然的, but it’s a real key tool to the way we do things in our space.”
What would Talking Points Memo be without SnapStream, if the editors had to record video some other way, without automatic transcription, and find needed clips by scrubbing through recorded material? Werdel doesn’t even want to think about it.
“If we didn’t have SnapStream or something like it, 这将使我们网站的整个部分——我们网站的视频部分——变得不那么活跃. 这将使我们在这个领域的整个报道过程变得更加困难和耗时,” says Werdel.
对于那些曾经想知道一个电视节目是如何把几个谈话片段放在一起来说明一个观点的人，或者一个网站是如何快速发布电视新闻节目的片段的人, the answer is likely to be SnapStream. 它作为我们快速传递、即时新闻文化的必备工具而名声大噪.
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