In an interview with Journalism.co.uk, director of editorial video Micah Gelman explained that The Post's viewers prefer videos shot to match the dimensions of their mobile phones when held upright.

He said: "It's a little different when it comes to a longer television programme which you might sit down and spend more time on, but most people are watching short form news videos vertically. There's still a lot of scepticism amongst the professional set, but I would urge people to keep an open mind.

"You look at how you use the phone, how everybody uses the phone, and take what's the best way to produce for that person."

The Washington Post has already launched a vertical video player to coincide with the US presidential election race that allows this content to be viewed in full screen, as well as shooting an immersive documentary about the refugee crisis made with mobile phone viewing in mind.   

It has also been noted that eyewitness footage sent to news teams, often shot on mobile phones, can be presented online in a vertical video player without being framed with black lines on either side.

Speaking of the divide of opinion around vertical video, Gelman referred to another unlikely success story when it was thought "YouTube will never take off because people want really high quality video".