Lessons from 13 years on YouTube

👀 What I’m watching: Melania

🗺️ What I’m reading: A subreddit

🍖 What I’m eating: KC’s best BBQ

👨🏼‍💻 What I’m working on: A new YouTube long-form series

In Friday’s video, I first spoke about the independent journalists who were arrested for simply exercising their First Amendment rights to cover a protest. Then, simply as a joke segue to the next news story, I went to see the Melania movie.

It became very clear to me that if I was going to spend the $6.75 to see it, you, our loyal readers and viewers, deserved a review of Melania.

(Also, shoutout to the Cinemark in Merriam, KS that still sells super cheap movie tickets).

I wanted to be upfront in this newsletter and assure you it’s coming, but not in today’s edition. For now, I’ll tell you this much, it’s basically a really long perfume ad. It’s void of any plot or meaning. In the hands of an experienced director, it looks nice enough. But as soon as you start to think critically about any aspect of the film, its subject, its production and even the director, the thin layer of polish dissolves faster than Melania’s smile when her husband turns away from her.

More on Melania later this week!

Given the absolute chaos this week, with news pummeling us from every angle, I did not have time to sit down with a nice book. True to my average millennial man nature, I browsed Reddit for distractions in my free moments. I’ve had a Reddit account since 2013 (What’s my username? I’ll never tell. XOXO Gossip Dave).

As a result of a relatively harmless Reddit addiction, I’m subscribed to hundreds of subreddits, and continue to stumble across new communities on a weekly basis. By far, my favorite of late is r/howislivinghere.

Users simply post a screenshot of a map, or a photo of location somewhere in the world, asking people of the internet what it’s like to live there. Virtually every single location eventually finds someone on Reddit that currently lives or has lived in that location. I even learned about the northernmost Canadian military installation via this post:

The Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert in Nunavat is just over 500 miles away from the North Pole. According to Redditors, crews rotate in and out of the station for 3-6 months at a time. It’s never empty. It’s probably a little miserable. It’s so fascinating to me.

Should I got to Nunavat for a video? What other remote or strange locations should we visit or talk about? Let me know at [email protected].

I grew up in Shawnee, Kansas (a suburb of Kansas City). A couple years back my wife, daughter and I moved back to the area, on the Missouri side. So, having spent over half my life in the area, it’s time I tell you my opinions on the best - and most overrated - KC BBQ stops. For anyone not from KC, locals are holding their breath before reading the following paragraph. I’m about to make some people happy, some people sad, and a few others so angry they can’t see straight.

Jack Stack BBQ is a lovely place to eat. The atmosphere - especially downtown - outstanding. 10/10. It’s not the best BBQ. The onion ring tower is nice, sure. They also make the best baked beans in the city. Other than that? It’s a top five joint that will never be #1.

Arthur Bryant’s is a restaurant. They definitely serve BBQ. It’s probably one of the last joints that’s truly authentic to the original BBQ scene, and therefore a good spot to take someone from out of town. It’s not even the top ten best BBQ spot in the city.

I’m weird about Gates BBQ. I really like it but I’ve never loved it. I’m convinced they have some kind of of device on their roofs that pumps out even more BBQ smell into the streets. It’s my favorite place to take someone from out of town, as it checks all the boxes. But it’s not the best overall BBQ.

RJ’s Bob-Be-Que Shack is where my high school basketball team went for a couple team dinners. I’m only mentioning it because I’m pretty sure it’s not that good at all, but when I was 16, it was magical.

Q39 BBQ is incredibly overrated. It wasn’t around when I was a kid. I heard great things after moving back to the area. I’ve been disappointed every time.

One of KC’s newest spots is my second-favorite, and in contention for the top spot if they keep it up: Char Bar. Unlike other restaurants, they aren’t known for just one thing. They can do it all. Burnt ends, ribs, sandwiches and fries. You name it, they’ve all but perfected it. This is where I go for my birthday every year. And when I’m there and it’s not my birthday, it feels like my birthday.

KC Joe’s has been the best and remains the best. When they rebranded from Oklahoma Joe’s to KC Joe’s a decade or so ago, I was worried the changes up top might affect the Z-Man sandwich, and all of his delicious friends. It did not. This is where you take people that visit. This is where you go if you’re a local. This is even where you go if you need to pump gas (though, the gas station part of the restaurant has basically been taken over by KC Joe’s merch).

Is there another spot I should rate? Email me at [email protected] and let me know. It’s possible I haven’t been there!

In the midst of pumping out five short videos a week, we continue to work tirelessly on the long-form series we promised early this year. We will fulfill that promise and I’m so excited for you to see what we’ve been working on.

One huge advantage we have in developing this series is that I’ve already experimented in long-form many, many times over my career, to varying levels of success. Everything I’ve learned in that trial and error will go into this series. Best of all, this time around, I have a whole team of people dedicated to making this series match the quality and tone you’ve come to expect from our short videos. Here’s some lessons I’ve learned over many years on YouTube.

Gimmicks are fun, but sometimes only last a few episodes.

Such was the case with Dear Dave, Eagle Scout. I put on my old Boy Scout uniform and interviewed people on the street. We got some really funny videos out of it, but the premise itself wore off relatively quickly, and we never had much material for something longer than five minutes.

Know your audience

‘Maybe’ was a tongue-in-cheek conspiracy theory series, in which I played an overly serious host unpacking how the internet had developed a recent, unfounded conspiracy theory. There’s a lot of DNA here in my modern day obsession with covering misinformation. But there was a fundamental flaw here: our core audience at IJR.com was mainly older, conservative leaning people. They took these videos completely seriously. Very funny now, super frustrating at the time.

Be consistent

Arguably, the most successful long-form series I did was Short Takes. It didn’t get millions of views, but it made people smile - its main goal.

We made over 50 episodes across at least 40 different locations around the country, finding funny kids in every single spot. This predated a very popular TikTok series that does the exact same thing. I wish I had committed the time to releasing this show consistently and perfecting it, like that creator.

Don’t make something impossible

Last year, while I was still at The Washington Post, I began to produce the first videos for what is now the Local News International YouTube channel. They were designed to look and feel like my TikToks and Shorts. I think we accomplished that in those six episodes.

But here’s the problem - it takes me about four hours to edit those complicated 90 second short videos. So when it was expanded to be eight to 10 minute videos, I set myself up for long-term failure. By episode six, I was completely burnt out, trying to both make this series and also produce five short videos a week.

Our new series will be top quality and feel similar to the short videos. But now we’re doing it the right way. We’re getting help from all kinds of people and places. And I’m learning to ask for help (what a concept!). Again, I’m so excited for you to see what’s coming. If you’re not subscribed on YouTube already, please do so!