The latest technology could help newspapers in the United Kingdom to completely revamp their sites, but with Internet start-ups filling the market, local newspapers may not be making changes fast enough, Journalism.co.uk reported Wednesday.

Internet start-ups are native to new media, and can offer lower costs. Additionally, their ultra-local video news broadcasts and the huge success of YouTube has newspaper sites gunning for their video cameras. “The early results were often embarrassing, as many in the industry admit,” writes Journalism.co.uk's Paul Bradshaw.

Videos posted on newspaper Web sites have gone up in quality, as newspapers invest more in video kits and studio facilities, and journalists practice using their new tools. But unfortunately, many times journalistic standards have suffered while top editors and publishers focus on snazzy new equipment and the need for new technical skills.

“The focus is too much on technical skills rather than effective storytelling and interviewing techniques. What's so sophisticated about iMovie and a video camera that it needs out of the office training?” writes Bradshaw.

And as newspaper journalists learn to use video, using the medium on Web sites hasn't been as exploratory as it could be.

“Have you seen a newspaper experiment with video blogging? Live video blogging? Hosting a community of video or even text bloggers? Pulling in and hosting YouTube videos from their patch? Thought not. For most, this is Shovelware TV, not Rocketboom,” states Bradshaw.

The real challenge for publishers, he writes, is to use new technologies to further excellent journalism, and to give users the “community, personality, viral distribution ... (and) fun” that they are after.