Will Video Kill the College Newspaper?

Harvard-Radcliffe Television (HRTV) will be launching a new video-sharing Web site called “CrimsonClips” this Thursday. The site combines current HRTV productions with videos of campus events and performances uploaded by students.

“It’s a YouTube for Harvard that will allow users to rate, share and search for videos,” said HRTV President Michael C. Koenigs ’09.

Koenigs said he hopes the new site will “provide an alternative to the over-crowded world of print media at Harvard. We want to provide a forum for student groups to feature performances, events, and activities for the rest of the Harvard Community to watch instead of read.”

The site’s launch was funded by an Undergraduate Council (UC) grant.

UC Finance Committee Chair Andrea R. Flores ’10 said HRTV programs “are filling a niche” for campus-wide entertainment.

“HRTV is open to everyone, and anyone can access it,” she said.

According to Koenigs, creating a broad-based video-sharing Web site has been a goal of HRTV for some time. The group hopes CrimsonClips will both expand HRTV’s scope and help archive visual arts performances and events at Harvard.

“We want to capture the Harvard experience; we’re losing so many great events,” he said. “The curtain goes down, and you never see them again. But if they’re filmed and put online, the curtain will stay up.”

“We have a number of great shows, and [the site] should publicize both our own programming as well as encourage new programming,” he added.

HRTV Vice President Eric C. Paternot ’09 said he strongly believes that CrimsonClips will be a great promotional tool for HRTV, helping alleviate some of the recruitment problems the group has faced in the past.

“I hope that [the site] inspires people to join HRTV and maybe even come up with a new show,” he said.

“Part of our problem in the past is that we haven’t been able to get our name out there, so I hope this changes that,.”

Paternot said the site can help make more than just HRTV a household name. “It’s going to be a great tool for procrastination or self-promotion,” he said.