They've given the kids camcorders

The Houston daily has launched a "vlog" featuring a young female feature writer whose first effort entails her "rapping." [link]

This is the latest in a continuing attempt to be "hip" on the part of the newspaper, the nation's 7th largest in circulation.

One can't blame them as the public has to be only vaguely media conscious to know that newspapers are in crisis these days. Plummeting ad revenues, declining circulation, lessening relevance, etc. and so forth.

If they won't read us, maybe they'll watch us, seems to be the thinking in the Houston Chronicle's think tank.

The results, so far, have been disappointing, though there are a few bright spots here and there.

(By no means have we conducted a comprehensive review of all the Chronicle's video efforts, so take heed.)

For a time, we watched the video reporting of Chron football writer John McClain, but we quickly grew tired of his back-and-forth with his female sidekick, Anna Megan, who evidently is the Carol Wayne of the sports department, ie. easy on the eyes and shapely, and we're not sure what else. In one video, she impersonated Peyton Manning in one of the quarterback's Tv commercials in which he dons a fake mustache.

We got to the point where we could watch no more. It was just too, too painful.

McClain, and the Chron in general, would serve their audience much better if they approached video in a serious way (see the New York Times) and forget trying to be funny. McClain certainly has demonstrated he can do this, judging from some of his video efforts.

But as it stands now, much of the Chron's vlogging efforts (including the very early efforts of "TMI," the paper's entertainment department pop culture blog) reminds us of when we were kids and somebody had a great idea to put on a play in the garage.

"Yeah, we can sell tickets and make costumes, and there's an old blanket in the attic that we can use for a curtain!"

Except now the "kids" are ostentibly "professional journalists" and their moms and dads have given them camcorders to play with.

Blame it on the YouTube, I guess.