Yes, we’re beating the raw video horse again! That’s because it’s a great way to add an interesting layer to your coverage.

And, oh yeah. There’s those Inner Circle requirements for 2012.

Here are three examples of raw video taken by GateHouse news staffers as part of their coverage of Hurricane Irene:

Michael Holtzman, from the Fall River, Mass., Herald News, shot  a short interview with folks who had been hit in a previous hurricane, about their preparation for the coming storm. It's a small vignette of loss and hope.

A staffer at the Patriot Ledger in Quincy, Mass., took a camera to the beach and captured the sights and sounds of the winds and waves. It really gives viewers a real, immediate sense of what it was like during the storm.

Finally, a video from the Utica, N.Y., Observer-Dispatch captures the dramatic sight and sound of a flash flood roaring through a neighborhood. It's dramatic, and really adds to their overall coverage of the storm.

As our newsrooms begin to wrap their brains around the Inner Circle requirements for 2012, I think we'll see more and more examples like these of short, quick-hit videos that enhance their coverage.

Check out Jean Hodges' five tips for shooting video and daily video ideas.