By Sarah Snyder — Belmont University

There is no single correct path to take in producing good online video, but the panelists at the "Video Eye for the Online Guy: What makes good Web TV" session agreed that the technology creates a better user experience and helps bring stories alive to the Web audience.

Neal Scarbrough, editor in chief of ESPN.com, discussed the launching of ESPN's Motion Showcase in April. Scarbrough said the Motion Showcase video presentation technology they use provides "crystal clear video bringing the sports section to life in their highlights of game footage." Now, nearly 25 percent of the site's users make video a part of their Web experience.

Panelist Regina McCombs, Minneapolis Star Tribune multimedia reporter, said that though she gathers multiple media -- shooting video, taking still photos and recording audio -- online video has the clear advantage because it connects people with the story on an emotional level. They can feel like they were actually a part of the story, McCombs said. With her audience, sports interviews, spot news coverage and in-depth stories are the most highly popular.

On the technology front, advances in online video have expanded the audience of online journalism.

Michael Sims, director of news and operations at CBSNews.com, said they first made online video available using Real Player, but in the past year, after adding Windows Media files as an alternative, CBSNews.com doubled their video traffic.

Nevertheless, the consensus of the panel was that choice of technology is not the only aspect of a site that determines the audience; more content attracts more people to a Web site.

McCombs said she found that people are frequently interested in hearing information in its entirety themselves. With the Web, you can explain the whole story, rather than having to reduce a story to fill a specific time slot.

The panelists made predictions about future possibilities for video online.

Scarbrough presented the idea of broadband becoming the "next cool thing." Broadband makes a site more personal, more interactive and more navigable, he said.

"Everybody got a sense of those of us who are trying to make noise in the video space," Scarbrough said. It hasn't been without speed bumps, and so I think we got a chance to talk about the speed bumps, and the successes."