Our weekly video digest, “In A Minute,” was born at the crossroads of concern about how few young adults in the United States report following the news and how many say they don’t trust information from national news organisations.

Wanting to solve these challenges, even in the smallest of ways, our four-person off-platform audience team at the San Antonio Express-News in Texas set out to bring the news to young adults where we know they’re most likely to consume it: social media.

Angela Alcala-Bach, our deputy audience editor, came up with the idea for a digest of our top local content posted across eight platforms for the widest possible reach. We set out to create a product that was:

1. Informative.
2. Fast-paced.
3. Easily-replicated on a daily basis.

As for metrics, we agreed to value engagement over video views. But our primary goals — brand recognition and trust — are more difficult to measure.

Bringing it to life

I’d like to say we arrived at the end product quickly, but it’s always easier to see the obstacles than the opportunities. We set about addressing logistical challenges during the course of a month. We repurposed a corner of our small podcast studio for recordings in a way that wouldn’t require massive turnover between setups.

We had confidence in the on-air talent we could draw from our newsroom, including Anthony Franze, our meteorologist, who had television experience prior to joining our staff.

The other members of our initial talent roster, Melissa Manno and Rhyma Castillo, had demonstrated on-camera poise and were eager participants in the experiment.

With a studio and talent in place, we established a workflow that would have a minimal impact on everyone’s time. On a good day, the entire process — script, shoot, edit — can be as quick as 60 minutes of total work time.

Alcala-Bach identifies three of the day’s buzziest stories at about 3 p.m. I begin writing the script and have a draft ready by 3:30 p.m.. The edited script is shared with the talent and loaded into an iPhone teleprompter by 4 p.m. Filming usually takes 10 minutes or less, and video editing begins immediately.

Within a highly templated timeline, the editing and captions are completed and ready for proofing by 5 p.m. A final version is soon scheduled for Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Threads, Bluesky, and LinkedIn.

The “In a Minute” branding itself sprang from a technical limitation — our tool for simultaneous social uploads at the time had a 60-second time limit. “In a Minute” just happened to be an apt description, as well as a snappy title and tagline.

Warm reception

Anecdotally, the reception has been overwhelmingly positive. Our on-camera hosts also report being recognised outside of the newsroom, which is its own measure of success.

Recently, our talent pool has grown to include a different host every day, allowing our viewers to connect more personally with our reporters. Imitators have popped up from other outlets, and we’ve drawn sponsorship interest from advertisers.

Though never viewed as an engagement juggernaut, in December 2025 we had almost a quarter million views across our top four social platforms.

But the greatest measure of success is hearing stories of young people who are only familiar with our news organisation through “In a Minute.” This includes new hires and fellows who say it was their first exposure to the Express-News and who believe in its mission enough that a few have volunteered to help keep it going.

We’re gratified by the recognition and motivated to find the next innovation that will turn casual viewers into followers.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .