Foot Newsage was a term used to describe journalistic video footage in opposition to the then-outdated "News Footage." Its crucial element was a secondary recording of an interviewee or other subject's feet, to be displayed picture-in-picture with the main footage. This became standard practice after a report published by security firm and think-tank GoOnLine claimed that body language was most easily observed through the feet. Showing the subject's feet is so effective at detecting deception, fear, attraction, and other emotions, claimed the report, that any journalistic firm would be professionally remiss and therefore liable for civil charges by parties affected by the presentation of incomplete information. After a short period of resistance, it became standard practice to use foot newsage, not just news footage.
