Reuters to begin distributing animated stories

Reuters announced Thursday that it will begin distributing 20 animated news stories a week, produced by Next Media Animation’s News Direct service.

The service, which will begin the week of July 16, will  reconstruct the story behind the main news events of the week.

The animations also provide clear illustration of news that is highly technical, such as the Elgin North Sea gas leak, and help explain stories that are conceptual in nature, such as the future of high speed travel. Accompanied by audio narration and natural sound, the 30-60 second stories will now be available through Reuters powerful distribution network.

When a top story breaks, the Next Media animation team begins its end-to-end process, working from concept to production and making videos available to customers in a matter of hours. Reuters will partner exclusively with Next Media to distribute its 3-D animated news videos in all global markets, with the exception of Japan and Taiwan.

“Our partnership with Next Media Animation has allowed us to a create and shape a video solution that enables broadcast and online publishers to illustrate every angle of a story, adding depth to our reporting when video from the scene is not available,” commented Owen Wyatt, head of video at Reuters, in a statement. “This service will enable our customers to streamline their workflows, add colour to in-house graphics and access compelling and timely animations to support their programming.”