HuffPost Live Hosts on Creating Content, Using Social Media

By Karen Fratti 

HuffPost Live videos have over 100 billion views since its launch in 2012, when everyone was still trying to figure out what to do with their video content. Views in 2014 increased 33% year over year. We sat down with HPL hosts Ricky Camilleri, who covers television and entertainment news, and Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani, who covers and produces segments on world news and women’s issues, to talk about what they do all day.

Lost Remote: Hosting and producing for a streaming network must be totally different from doing traditional news and television. 

Ricky Camilleri: Absolutely. With broadcast it always seems to be five minutes of the basics and the one or two more probing questions if you’re lucky. At HuffPost Live I’m able to have a 20 — sometimes up to 50 –minute conversation with guests. I also generally approach my guests as if my audience has seen the film or knows about the subject.

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Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani: I came from newspapers, so this is my first on-air gig. One of the things that makes HuffPost Live so unique is its relaxed and unscripted format. This allows for a more free-flowing and unfiltered conversation — similar to one you could have with friends. We aren’t constrained by what TV “should” look like or sound like.
LR: What’s your role as a host in marketing yourselves and the network on social media? How do you interact with viewers? 

Caroline MT HeadshotCMT: As a twenty-something, I’m utilizing social media as a curious citizen, not just a host.  Often my being engaged with a topic means I’m simultaneously interacting with our viewers and hearing what they have to say about an issue that might not be what the mainstream media are saying. I also sometimes use social media to get feedback about a story idea.  I’ll tweet out a question and often times, people who tweet me back and have something compelling to say will become part of the conversation we have on HuffPost Live. And that’s really cool.
ricky headshotRC: I listen to and work with our social media team. They’re great and I do whatever they say. If I have ideas I’ll pitch them but I leave the strategy to the pros. If viewers tweet at me, which they do frequently, I’ll respond and sometimes that response is a simple “thank you” or, they’ll critique and I’ll listen and take it into consideration.
LR: I have a hard time explaining my job sometimes (“I watch TV and write about it”). Do you find that non-industry people “get” HPL and how it fits into their media diet? 
 RC:  Whether or not most people understand “streaming,” they definitely know how to watch video online.  So, I usually tell people that I create video content. I interview people and host a news program online. The huge upside of working at a digital network is our massive archive. If a viewer isn’t able to catch something live, they can find one of my interviews from last year, watch it now and think: “That is the definitive Matthew Weiner interview. All questions answered.” Then I don’t think I could expect anything more. Now, if they see and it in a year and say, “Who’s this doofus asking stupid questions?” Then that sucks. Sorry.
CMT: I totally get where you’re coming from. I’ve found that showing people what I do is easier than trying to explain it. Once people checked out the HuffPost Live’s interactive platform, they were really hooked! Particularly when they started engaging with other viewers and leaving comments that hosts were reading on-air in real time. We have a very engaged community.
LR: Lightening round. What are you watching before work every morning? 
RC: I listen to podcasts a lot (“How Did This Get Made,” “Fresh Air,” “WTF,”). Of course I follow digital news organizations. I don’t have this job because I like being on camera. That is always secondary, or even third. I work at HuffPost Live because I love consuming news, movies, music, art and even more so, I am able to satiate my curiosities by having smart conversations and interviewing the creators, directors, actors and other people involved.
CMT: I like to keep up with what Al Jazeera is doing, they’ve really got some innovative shows and ways of approaching conversations.  The new content on MSNBC’s Shift is interesting. I’m curious to see how that melds or complements the network’s content.  Vice is always provocative.  Twitter is my go-to when it comes to keeping up on other news organizations and everything else going on in the world.
*This interview has been lightly edited for space, clarity, and grammar. 

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