Today, news media is sitting between a rock and a tight spot. The editorial staff is usually understaffed, and there are not enough journalists to cover all the stories, let alone go into the field. There is one thing that gas has proven to be a tremendous help to media outlets, and that is user-generated content (UGC).
User-generated content refers to any media created and shared by individuals who are sometimes paid for that kind of content. That's the defining characteristic of UGC. Regular people produce them rather than professional content creators. In contrast, branded media content is created internally by staff members of media outlets.
Examples of UGC include blog posts, social media posts, videos, photos, audio files, and many more. As you can already see, media outlets can get content from UGC, but that's just the start of many benefits.
Easy and cost-efficient way of building trust
UGC provides a more authentic perspective of events since it is created by people present on the ground in real-time. That is why UGC is one of the best ways to build trust in today's era of misinformation. This is also how media outlets can restore credibility for skeptical news consumers. Using organic citizen accounts shows that the media is committed to providing authentic and reliable reporting. It's essential to have authentic and trustworthy coverage so we can all feel confident in what we read. User-generated content (UGC) is valuable because it means less control from the institutions and more involvement from the community.
There are just not enough journalists
By tapping into UGC, media outlets can gain first-hand perspectives and content around emerging stories that their staff need help to capture. This citizen journalism can provide more comprehensive real-time coverage while reducing staffing costs. Audiences enjoy UGC as it offers unfiltered and authentic viewpoints directly from people affected by events. User-generated content allows media firms to act as curators of stories without relying exclusively on their writers and journalists.
Media outlets and audiences work together
Traditionally, media outlets have been the ones to decide what news is important, while audiences just receive the news. However, the emergence of UGC has changed this dynamic. UGC allows audiences to be active participants in shaping news coverage. This empowers audiences to share stories actively and fosters a collaborative relationship between news outlets and their readers, listeners, or viewers. So, it's a win-win situation where both parties are invested in producing quality news coverage. UGC makes audiences more invested because they see their stories, voices, and communities reflected in the news. This builds brand loyalty as users feel acknowledged by participating in the reporting process versus just being passive recipients.
UGC is actually multimedia content!
One of the most significant benefits of UGC is how quickly you can repurpose assets across different platforms like web, mobile, video, audio, and social media. Single UGC video can be used in many different ways. You can easily find it on Instagram, embed it in articles, use it for video segments, and include it in podcasts or radio shows. So, instead of sending staff into the field, UGC provides a handy way to quickly generate multimedia content that engages users however they prefer to get their news. To conclude, UGC encourages more engagement, provides SEO Value, and increases the follower count. Do we need to tell more about how UGC benefits everyone? Now that we have proved our point, let's see how you can make UGC that media outlets can use.
How can we make UGC that media outlets can use?
If you are filming a UGC that you know for a fact will be of interest to media outlets, there are a few things you need to keep in mind. Firstly, try to keep a steady hand while filming. That can be challenging sometimes because maybe you are filming terrible weather, unexpected riots after the game, fires, or scaffold collapsing. That is why you should always ensure your surroundings are safe for filming. On the other hand, if you don't mind your surroundings, you are putting yourself in danger, and the footage you recorded while running won't help anyone. Decide how you are going to film UGC before hitting the record button. Mainly, decide if you are going to film vertically or horizontally. Never use both framings in a single video. Lastly, good lighting and clear audio are no-brainer. Your ideal situation is natural lighting during the day and locations without much noise. Unfortunately, ideal situations are rare, and you should never expect them. Eventually, you will shoot at night or indoors where there is no light and in noisy locations. So, how can you fix your UGC quickly, even if you don't know how editor software works?
How to fix UGC with AI?
We can start to imagine what it looks like to film severe weather. You are probably scared, the footage is all shaky, there is no natural light, and nobody can talk to the camera because of loud noises. This is where TensorPix comes into action because our AI filters can solve common UGC problems for media outlets. We recommend you:
- Noise Reduction AI filter for footage with bad lighting
- AI Audio Denoiser filter for noisy locations
- AI Stabilization filter for shaky footage
Let's see how this works through an example.
Here, you will find a UGC with an Iphone7 , and next to it, you can see how TensorPix filters can improve it. So, in this example, we applied a couple of filters:
- FPS boost 2x
- AI Upscale (200% upscale pro)
- AI Stabilization
- AI Denoise
- AI Deep Clean (pro version)
Remember that if you use TensorPix for free, you can use two filters on one video. That's why we recommend our Standard or Premium subscription plan because they give you more freedom to fix your UGC. Also, the first credits are on us. ;)
