Skardu Times Studio: the journalist video guide

A journalist records a video of themselves, sends it with any pictures, clips, documents or links, and the studio turns it into a finished Skardu Times video in about the time it takes to make tea. The editor watches it and approves it; only then can the journalist download it.

The finished video is a split screen: the journalist on one side, and on the other the points they make, the pictures they sent, the quotes worth showing and the sources they mention, each appearing as they speak. It comes in three files: a wide video for YouTube and the website, a vertical one for phones, and a thumbnail. Each is in the colours and logo of the journalist's edition (English, Urdu, Arabic or Persian), with the paper's music under it.

The studio never posts anything. Nothing goes to YouTube, Facebook or the site from here: the journalist downloads the approved video and it is used from there.

You need one thing: the login link the editor sends you. There are no passwords for journalists.

• The link works once and expires after 7 days. Open it on the phone or computer you will upload from.
• Opening it signs you in on that device. You stay signed in there, so keep the page bookmarked: skardutimes.com/studio.
• Lost access, a new phone, or the link expired? Ask the editor for a new login link. Old links stop working.
• Any up-to-date browser works: Chrome, Safari, Edge or Firefox, on a phone or a computer. A computer is easier for large files.

The studio builds everything from what you say, so a clear voice matters more than the picture.

1. Hold the phone sideways (landscape) and frame yourself from the chest up, face to the camera.
2. Find a quiet room. Fans, traffic and other voices make the studio mishear names and numbers.
3. Speak in your edition's language (English, Urdu, Arabic or Persian), and stay in it.
4. Say names, places and numbers clearly and in full. A figure appears on screen only if you say it, or it is in your notes or documents.
5. Make your strongest points in full sentences. The best of them may be shown as quotes, word for word.
6. When you mention a picture, a clip or a source, name it (“in this photo of the bridge”, “as Dawn reported”). The studio shows it at that moment.
7. Length: at least 10 seconds; anything past 30 minutes is cut. One to five minutes works best.

One person talking works best. An interview with two people confuses the name card under the speaker.

Everything goes in one form. Fill it in, press send, and keep the page open until every file has uploaded.

1. Open skardutimes.com/studio and press Send new material.
2. Edition: the language and paper the video is for. It starts on your own edition.
3. Title: what the video is about, in a few words.
4. Notes: anything the studio should know. Your key points, names and their spellings, numbers you want shown, who is in your pictures. Numbers written here count as checked facts.
5. Links, one per line:
   • your recording or clips if they are online (YouTube, Google Drive, Dropbox, Facebook, X, TikTok, Vimeo);
   • articles or posts you mention, which appear as article cards.
6. Files: choose your recording first, then anything else that helps: extra video clips, pictures, audio (an interview, a call), documents and data (PDF, Word, Excel, CSV, slides). You can pick several at once, and remove one before sending.
7. Press Send to the studio. Each file shows a bar as it uploads. Large videos take a while on a slow connection: do not close the page until it finishes.

You need either an uploaded recording or a link to one. The first video in the list is treated as your recording; any other videos are clips.

The studio listens to your recording, then decides what to show beside you and when. Every quote and figure is checked against what you actually said or wrote; anything that fails the check is left out, never shown.

Your submission appears under Your submissions with a status that moves on its own; the page refreshes every 20 seconds.

Once the editor approves it, three buttons appear under your submission:

• Download wide video: 1920 by 1080, for YouTube and the website.
• Download vertical video: 1080 by 1920, for Shorts, Reels and TikTok.
• Thumbnail: 1280 by 720, for YouTube.

Each button gives a fresh download that works for one hour; press it again any time for a new one. Before approval there are no buttons: the video cannot be downloaded until the editor has seen it.

The editor page, skardutimes.com/studio/admin, signs in with the editor password and has two tabs.

Journalists: inviting and tracking

1. Enter the journalist's name, email and edition, and press Invite.
2. Copy the login link it shows and send it to them privately (WhatsApp, email). It works once, for 7 days.
3. Each journalist's row shows how many videos they sent, how many were approved, rejected and still in progress, and when they last used the page.
4. New login link gives them a fresh one. Remove signs them out at once and stops their access; Restore brings it back.

Submissions: reviewing

1. Waiting for approval lists finished videos; In progress the ones being built; All everything.
2. Open a submission to see the notes, the links, every uploaded file (each opens or downloads), the summary of which files were used, and both videos to watch.
3. Then choose:
   • Approve: the journalist can download it.
   • Reject: write a short note; the journalist sees it.
   • Build again: the studio makes it again from the same material.
   • Delete: removes the submission and every file in it, for good.

Every step is logged behind the scenes (signed in, sent, built, approved, rejected, downloaded), for the record.