I was going to submit this video on two car show rivals to the NPPA monthly contest, but um, oops, the deadline was yesterday. (The embarrassing part was that I exchanged e-mails with the Webmaster thinking a glitch in my account was preventing me from entering. D’oh.)

It’s OK, the video probably wouldn’t have won anyway. It is what it is: Mississippi accents, rap music and suped-up cars. Not that I think the video is bad; it tells a story, too. But I notice the videos that win at NPPA are not of the format I normally use.

Take last month’s winning video for example. Good shooting, good audio, good editing. But otherwise, zZZZzzz. Check out the other winners. They’re chosen by NPPA members.

Don’t get me wrong, my videos need a LOT of work. But as well as mastering technical elements, I want to tell a good story that my audience wants to watch. Should I be taking notes from YouTube or the Discovery Channel? I like both approaches honestly. They both have value. I’d even watch both at my computer. But I picture my friends watching Web videos, circulating among themselves what they like. They want something short, funny, exciting. If I sent them video of an old man rambling, they would reply, quote: WTF?

I think my question at its core is about elitism vs. populism. If that is the case, we know which is succeeding in newspapers and which isn’t. We already know readers don’t care about Pulitzers.

Update: I want to add that I love NPPA and I appreciate the chance to see others’ work and learn from it. I do have a lot of learning to do.