Different ways to tell the story: are papers innovating enough?
Posted by Emma Heald on May 12, 2009 at 3:10 PM
The Internet has affected newspapers in many ways, and though recent focus has concentrated largely on falling revenue due to reduction in print advertising, it has also given papers the chance to greatly expand their story-telling capabilities. As well as just words and pictures, there are now numerous different ways to enhance a story: through video, audio, slideshows, interactive maps and graphics, and more. But are newspapers making full use of the opportunities that the Internet offers to change the way that they produce their stories?
Upendra Shardanand, CEO and founder of Daylife, wrote in Paid Content about his belief that journalistic storytelling is "stuck in a rut." He describes how publishers he meets are eager to revamping many parts of their business such as distribution, and how do generate revenue, but "one aspect of their businesses that very few seem to question is the actual craft of writing and telling stories." The Internet offers so many opportunities that he feels journalists do not take advantage of, rather they leave it to sites such as Outside.In and Everyblock who "treat content like data and tear it apart just to reassemble it into infinitely browsable, non-linear experiences." He compares this process to the way that Amazon has "revolutionized" shopping.
Upendra Shardanand, CEO and founder of Daylife, wrote in Paid Content about his belief that journalistic storytelling is "stuck in a rut." He describes how publishers he meets are eager to revamping many parts of their business such as distribution, and how do generate revenue, but "one aspect of their businesses that very few seem to question is the actual craft of writing and telling stories." The Internet offers so many opportunities that he feels journalists do not take advantage of, rather they leave it to sites such as Outside.In and Everyblock who "treat content like data and tear it apart just to reassemble it into infinitely browsable, non-linear experiences." He compares this process to the way that Amazon has "revolutionized" shopping.
According to Shardanand, the reason that the content producers themselves have not started to write stories in "a new language" for the web is that "the tools haven't changed." Most tools for creating news stores are still based just on word processing, and are frequently made by CMS companies. Shardanand believes that "publishers haven't committed significant R&D to the development of new tools," and that if they did manage to come up with new tools, they would have a competitive advantage.
In Monday Note, Frédéric Filloux wrote about the alternative ways to present news that he has been looking at with the journalism students he teaches at French university Sciences Politiques as he tries to impress upon them the importance of multimedia story telling. Filloux believes that journalism schools "underplay an important part of the training of aspiring journalists: the development of technical skills." He sees such skills as crucial for good multimedia production, and brings up the New York Times' team of 'cybergeeks' as an example of an effective multimedia effort, and stresses the importance of encouraging technological expertise among students and journalists, including the ability to manage statistics.
The New York Times website has been widely praised for the way it has enthusiastically embraced multimedia projects to tell its stories in different ways. Its latest innovative efforts include displaying annotated documents showing former president of the New York Fed Timothy F. Geithner's calendar, on which readers are also invited to add remarks, providing readers with the actual evidence behind the story.
The Associated Press is also attempting multimedia story-telling: yesterday it announced the introduction of interactive maps to measure economic stress at county and state levels in the US. The AP Economic Stress Index weighs three factors - unemployment, foreclosures and bankruptcy -- to produce a score out of 100 that indicates the how the recession is affecting different counties. Users will be able to compare results with previous months, and the colour-coded maps will contain video essays from citizens, along with photos and text stories. This is presumably the kind of effort that Filloux would appreciate: incorporating complex statistical analysis into an easily accessible visual representation.
It is clear that more innovation in newspapers' story-telling could only be a good thing, as long as it does not overwhelm a story's essential message. And given the recent moves that publishers such as News Corp are making towards charging for online content, creating more interesting, interactive websites could even help to 'save' the newspaper industry by offering readers an online reading experience that they might be prepared to pay for.
Source: Monday Note, Paid Content, Associated Press Corporate
In Monday Note, Frédéric Filloux wrote about the alternative ways to present news that he has been looking at with the journalism students he teaches at French university Sciences Politiques as he tries to impress upon them the importance of multimedia story telling. Filloux believes that journalism schools "underplay an important part of the training of aspiring journalists: the development of technical skills." He sees such skills as crucial for good multimedia production, and brings up the New York Times' team of 'cybergeeks' as an example of an effective multimedia effort, and stresses the importance of encouraging technological expertise among students and journalists, including the ability to manage statistics.
The New York Times website has been widely praised for the way it has enthusiastically embraced multimedia projects to tell its stories in different ways. Its latest innovative efforts include displaying annotated documents showing former president of the New York Fed Timothy F. Geithner's calendar, on which readers are also invited to add remarks, providing readers with the actual evidence behind the story.
The Associated Press is also attempting multimedia story-telling: yesterday it announced the introduction of interactive maps to measure economic stress at county and state levels in the US. The AP Economic Stress Index weighs three factors - unemployment, foreclosures and bankruptcy -- to produce a score out of 100 that indicates the how the recession is affecting different counties. Users will be able to compare results with previous months, and the colour-coded maps will contain video essays from citizens, along with photos and text stories. This is presumably the kind of effort that Filloux would appreciate: incorporating complex statistical analysis into an easily accessible visual representation.
It is clear that more innovation in newspapers' story-telling could only be a good thing, as long as it does not overwhelm a story's essential message. And given the recent moves that publishers such as News Corp are making towards charging for online content, creating more interesting, interactive websites could even help to 'save' the newspaper industry by offering readers an online reading experience that they might be prepared to pay for.
Source: Monday Note, Paid Content, Associated Press Corporate
Related Entries
- New York Times launches Chicago edition today
- Associated Press confirms total of 90 layoffs this week
- AP layoffs total at least 71
- 'Local' the new 'Social'?
- NYPD, district attorney raid NY newspaper offices
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Different ways to tell the story: are papers innovating enough?.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.editorsweblog.org/mt/mt-tb.cgi/18125
Leave a comment