UW NewsLab is a 2,500 square-foot media analysis facility located at the center of the UW-Madison campus,
equipped with 35 Windows XP workstations each with the capability of digitizing video from DVD, video cassette, or other digital media. Video can be gathered, sorted, and archived automatically by the InfoSite analysis system developed by CommIT Technology Solutions, Inc. Wisconsin NewsLab staff then analyze each segment using coding protocols developed by researchers.

   For most UW NewsLab projects, video is digitally captured through servers in each media market and sent to the Wisconsin NewsLab online overnight. Once in UW NewsLab, media content goes through three processes facilitated by the InfoSite system:

Clipping: In the clipping phase, all news broadcasts are divided into individual stories, given a headline (written by UW NewsLab staff), and categorized by subject - both a primary focus and all secondary foci are identified. The clipping part of the analysis enables the Wisconsin NewsLab to identify all stories mentioning a particular topic and to report how much time in a typcial broadcast is devoted to each subject.

Coding: Using the foci identified during clipping, all stories that relate to a particular project (i.e. elections, health, etc) are tagged for additional analysis and are automatically sent to a queue in the coding system. Custom coding applications are built to researcher specifications, and UW NewsLab staff view and code every story online, eliminating human error in transferring hard code copy sheet to computer databases and statistical software.

Archiving: Once stories are coded, the InfoSite system makes them automatically available in a web-based searchable archive, which enable users to quickly and efficiently search through thousands of hours of video to find clips on particular subjects, particular stations, or particular days of the week, etc. For more information on these archives, visit our election project page.

   With over a terabyte of storage, the UW NewsLab servers manage data, encode and archive video, and serve content internally and externally via the internet. With the InfoSite web-based applications, UW NewsLab can expand outside of its physical headquarters during large-scale projects.

   For information on past, current, and future UW NewsLab projects, click here.