Deez Interviews: Meet the culture editor from an online video outlet who has seriously helpful tips for your first onscreen appearance

Happy Friday, Deezers! This week’s interview is with Christian Bryant, a senior editor at the online video outlet Newsy. He talked to us about who’s actually doing a good job pivoting to video, what worries him about the future of video, and how to prep for that first appearance on Morning Joe (or what have you). Enjoy!

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The interviewee: Christian Bryant (follow him @BryantCP)

The gig: Senior culture editor

The hustle: I report and lead a small team of reporters who cover the spectrum of culture-related topics, which is, like, everything. Over the past two years, though, we’ve really focused on immigration, policing, women’s issues and the nooks and crannies of arts and entertainment. I'll hear pitches from my team and provide feedback (and vice versa) almost on a daily basis.

I also communicate between bureaus about coverage plans and instituting changes… but that's the boring stuff. Managing people is where things get interesting.

If folks want to talk through issues with their stories or concerns with their respective roles at the company, we have a chat. I do a ton of listening — which is unlike how I treat my personal life. But it's an invaluable skill as a journalist and I'm glad it's one I'm developing.

Before joining Newsy, which is a digital video outlet, you were a broadcast anchor and radio DJ. Has cultivating an online video personality, versus a traditional broadcast/radio personality, been different?

Lemme say this right quick: that radio job was to support my drinking habit in grad school, but, on some real shit, it connected me with my dad in a very unexpected way. He and I have a very close relationship, but listening to his stories about being a disc jockey and then doing some of the same things at [station redacted] was surreal.

Anyway, the interesting part about my "online video personality" and my "traditional broadcast and radio personality" is that they are two halves of a venn diagram that have almost become a complete circle. In my short career as a journalist, I've spent too much time trying to sound like and be like other folks. In a very Mr. Miyagi sort've way, I've found the most traction — and the most comfort — being myself.

Now, LEVITATE, LEVITATE, LEVITATE, LEVITATE.

Everyone and their mother has been ~pivoting to video~ lately. What excites you most about the future of video? What worries you the most?

This feels like a really important moment in news video. I've seen some video treatments by outlets that started in the digital space that've really blown me away. That's the exciting part — being able to tell stories like they've never been told before.

My biggest concern is that some of these videos that we see might become too formulaic or too templatized or that the journalism is lacking but the graphics might become so good that, fuck, we won't even know what's going on on screen anymore! The Michael Bay version of news video. That's the shit I won't like.

What non-Newsy outlets do you think have been doing the most interesting things with news video?

Vice and Vox have really owned their brands and that comes through in their video treatment of news stories. NYT is a traditional outlet that does really exciting video. Wired. Vanity Fair's "Notes On A Scene" is a new fave.

I think I should stop here. I might get to a point where I'm just naming companies that make videos I like… like Toei Animation.

Brands doing the pivot are often finding very quickly that they've underestimated how much work it takes to produce quality video. What else do most people in the biz not understand about video?

Anybody can slap text on a video and say they’re doing something en vogue. Tell a good story, but make it interesting.


Most of Deez Links readers are media professionals with little to no experience being actually on camera themselves (and let's face it, we've all seen our share of awkward reporters on Morning Joe). Any advice or quick tips from an on-screen pro about how to work it???

Hahaha! This is hilarious because I went from being on camera about three hours a day to barely being on camera at all. That part of my brain is pretty useless.

But I can try to conjure some pointers:

- Be prepared.

- Check yourself (teeth, mouth, collar, hair, etc.). The fucked up part about TV news is that if you look a little off, nobody is gonna care about what you're saying. Added incentive: you'll wanna keep record of this appearance, right?

- Be in the moment. Try your best not to think about the lights or the cameras or the people or the excessive makeup. Focus on what you're doing so it's a conversation and not an interview.

- Don't curse! Lord, have mercy. Don't curse.

- Make sure your outfit ain't janky. Keep it simple… and then hit it with an iron.

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Again, you can follow Christian on Twitter @BryantCP and check out Newsy’s vast troves of videos and documentaries here. Have a great weekend!

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