Yesterday I received an email about a contest that the NAA (Newspaper Association of America) is having. Their wanting teens to make a video on youtube of what they like about the newspaper whether it be print or online and for doing this they have a chance to win an iPhone.

I think doing viral video is great I especially like what Google did recently with their Gmail Collaborative Video. Before I give my 2 cents on this watch the video below from the NAA.

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/iEWPKqpssHA"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/iEWPKqpssHA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

Ummmmmmm ok. As a youth who really wants to see Newspapers succeed I don’t see how this is really going to help the cause. I mean really what do they plan on doing with this information? Could they do something differently to get teens involved? My guess is that there will be a few video submissions of people that really are using the newspaper for something and most of the submissions will be teens who don’t really care but are tired of their old Nokia because their parents won’t buy them a new one.

And in terms of NAA’s marketing for this video…. Well it was added on YouTube the 19th and its only received 402 views 1 week later. I know as a youth that Newspapers have a lot to offer, I just don’t believe this is the contest to help them get their answers. If you do know someone who utilizes a newspaper and who is legit then by all means have them sign up for this contest.

On a side note this reminded me of a video I did when I first got involved in the industry. I was working at a small 202 Television station and we had just launched a new website around Valentines Day. I thought it would be cool to make a Valentines Day themed promo around why people in the community “loved” our website. Just for the heck of it I’ve posted the video below.

Don’t be too hard on me though I was a lot younger (I believe not even old enough to drink at the time).

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-Te2-uZQifA"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-Te2-uZQifA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

Man I was corny!

I would be curious to hear your thoughts on this. Anything to share?