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POLITICO has over 4 Million Twitter followers, 1 Million Instagram followers, almost 2 Million Facebook followers and hundreds of Millions of visits on its website every day.
The 13-year-old news organization is one of the most influential in the world, top of its class, and a leader in breaking political news. Video content—clipped from major television networks—has been a huge part of its rise to the top and SnapStream has been an instrumental tool in getting there.
“Finding the actual important moments for breaking news
and for providing more context in a real-time fashion would be impossible without SnapStream.”
Breaking fast-paced political news before the competition, while still maintaining legitimacy through accuracy and context
Access to streaming and broadcast video limited to a small number of people within the organization, creating bottlenecks
Days-long process to find specific video clips and quotes, with additional time spent on recording, downloading and editing
Multi-platform, complicated workflow to live-stream video to social media
Switching to SnapStream to find and clip news events from major television networks like CNN, MSNBC, and others, POLITICO has harnessed video clipping at a rate of 100 times more per week
Along with the expansion of video content usage came dramatic increases in speed and efficiency, keys to solidifying its position as a leader in political news coverage
Expanding access to more than 200 SnapStream users, POLITICO also added a foundational workflow tool for television and video across its entire organization
Content might be king, but speed is queen in a world where news is constantly breaking. SnapStream allows for both as POLITICO captures moments that matter within minutes, allowing reporters to quote, fact-check, and add evidence and context through videos clipped from major television news sources to social media posts and online news stories.
With this speed comes the ability to create more content, break more news, and bring more influence and information when and where it matters. Chris Price, a member of POLITICO’s social media team, knows the value of video is far beyond soundbites, adding life as well as evidence to the content they’re sharing. SnapStream is their secret weapon for leveraging and sharing video from a variety of sources.
“If you’re not the first to get it out, you’re usually just buried.”
Search keywords in SnapStream
Search keywords in SnapStream
Learn about a quote on Twitter or social media
Learn about a quote on Twitter or social media
Instantaneously locate key moments across hours of recorded television by searching the closed captions
Instantaneously locate key moments across hours of recorded television by searching the closed captions
Clip and edit video segment in SnapStream
Clip and edit video segment in SnapStream
Share directly to Twitter
Share directly to Twitter
People involved: 2-3
Time spent (per clip): 2-3 + hours
People involved: 1
Time spent (per clip): ~1 minute
Cross-reference timestamps of when it hit social media, locate which network it appeared on and about what time
Cross-reference timestamps of when it hit social media, locate which network it appeared on and about what time
Hunt down the exact moment it happened combing through DVR content
Hunt down the exact moment it happened combing through DVR content
Hit record on the computer at the perfect time to capture seconds of video
Hit record on the computer at the perfect time to capture seconds of video
Hope everything lined up perfectly
Hope everything lined up perfectly
Try again when it didn’t
Try again when it didn’t
Edit clip in a 3rd party tool
Edit clip in a 3rd party tool
Render and Export Clip
Render and Export Clip
Post to Twitter
Post to Twitter
Empowering more internal users was a large part of unleashing SnapStream’s full potential within the organization, expanding access by a whopping 1,900 percent, going from approximately 10 to 200 users after POLITICO migrated to SnapStream Cloud. Thanks to central authentication using SSO, scaling was easy, quick, and secure. Employees have now become autonomous, independent storytellers within POLITICO, strengthening its editorial capabilities exponentially.
But just as important was SnapStream’s user-friendly experience, which allowed for ease of use and quick adoption. Michael Cadenhead, a video producer and editor at POLITICO, utilizes it in his everyday workflow and says it’s the “most user-friendly live clipping tool” that he’s ever used.
Michael Irwin, Senior Director of Technology Operations and Cybersecurity, says it helps him meet goals like being “as lean and cost-effective as possible to allow my organization to grow indifferent ways,” part of which means giving more tools to more people, meaning more creativity and content is made possible through SnapStream.
“Something that takes more handholding really does directly impact our ability to publish content."
Unintentional, but additional positive benefits of SnapStream Cloud mean the need for onsite televisions have been eliminated, with no disruptions in the service as remote working has become the new normal. Users with access can easily search television transcripts for quotes and maintain their connection to the same cable networks as the rest of the team.
More access and ease-of-use mean collaboration and continuity are also part of SnapStream’s expanded use within POLITICO. Social media teams collaborate more with video production teams, reporters can access and clip video to use in stories easily and efficiently without having to ask and wait for someone else to do it, and live streaming to social media has become the norm (with multiple people knowing how to do it, instead of a single gatekeeper). Being able to access and utilize it concurrently also means no disruptions when time is of the essence.
“Finding the actual important moments for breaking news and for providing more context in a real-time fashion would be impossible without SnapStream. Operating quickly, efficiently, and with the right information, makes it really helpful for us to do our jobs at a high rate.” —Brooke Minters, Executive Producer of Video at POLITICO
SnapStream opened up a new world of video usage to POLITICO, helping it grow reach, engagement, and output as well as improving accuracy, speed, and efficiency of its day-to-day workflow. Increased access coupled with a user-friendly dashboard mean more users than ever are empowered to create and collaborate without adding headaches for the technology department. Using SnapStream helped POLITICO democratize video for staff, break news faster, and stake their claim as an industry leader in a world of rapid-fire political news.
“Finding the actual important moments for breaking news and for providing more context in a real-time fashion would be impossible without SnapStream.”
SnapStream earned respect as an industry leader because it creates efficiency and saves money for organizations. When POLITICO came to SnapStream, the time-consuming process of video clipping was cost prohibitive and frustrating. Using SnapStream’s tools, what once took hours became a simple process completed in minutes. POLITICO now clips 10x more video than they did pre-SnapStream, empowering hundreds of staff members with the autonomy to access, use and clip moments that matter, adding context and accuracy to stories along the way.
SnapStream’s mission is to help organizations tell great stories by closing the gap between easily searching for memorable television moments and sharing, storing or using relevant video clips in a meaningful way. SnapStream users can quickly search their recorded and live content to create and share the clips that matter most with speed, agility, and efficiency.
We’re how The Daily Show finds clips to present a hilarious and thoughtful take on current events while they’re still current. We’re how POLITICO rapidly breaks news on the website and across social media.
We’re how the United States Senate media teams effectively respond to stories as they air on broadcast news. We’re how the Atlantic Council turns in-depth policy analysis into consumable, newsworthy events.
SnapStream was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Backed by a team of news junkies, cinephiles, media aficionados, and wannabe live streaming influencers who are all really good at what they do, they’re always finding new ways to come together to do work they love and staying one step ahead of an ever-changing media landscape.