Simple can be best…

Sometimes, trying to be creative can just over complicate matters.

Take video journalism, for example - many of my videos have taken hours of editing and although they look great (even if I do say so myself), they are not always the most relevant.

Like any other journalist, my work is often judged on how many people actually view it - and if the figures are not there, then a re-think is needed. And quick.

This reality hit me this week when I filmed the roads chaos at Ketley Brook Island, near our offices in Telford.

The images were not, to be honest, the most visually exciting I have ever filmed - there are only so many ways to film a traffic jam - but the story itself was a cracker.

Hundreds (if not thousands) of people use that junction every day and will have been hugely frustrated by the roadworks delays.

So, of course, a straightforward approach was needed to the video - film it, edit it, upload it.

There was no need for flashy graphics or image overlays (whatever they are) - just a story, told well, and illustrated with the right images.

It may not be feted as a wonderful example of camera work or editing techniques, but it tells the view what happened, without fuss.

And it will probably gain more page impressions that my sports preview video last week.

This week has also seen the start of our sports service, with match highlights of Telford Tigers and AFC Telford matches. The Tigers matches have only been up for a few weeks, but the AFC Telford games will, hopefully, be a regular thing.

I bet you do not want to read any more about the adventures of my cat and dog. To be honest, they have taken up the hobby just being smelly and have forced me to look elsewhere for entertainment.

One place for that is the internet - and in particular, youtube.

Type in MIke Flowers, sit back, have a laugh and take yourself back to the mid-1990s. It’s a cracker.

Cheers!