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InternetStrategy

forNewsOrganiza3ons

Session2:DigitalStorytelling

4June2010

Instructor:JonathanStray

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Howcanweusethecapabili3esofdigitalmedia

totellstories?

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Newcapabili3es

1.Links

2.PermanenceandChangeability

4.Interac3ves&visualiza3on

5.Arbitrarylength

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TheHyperlink

Howdoesitchangestoryform?

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LinearStorytelling

Readergoesthroughthewholestoryinorder.

Newinforma3on

Newtome/thisisinteres3ng

Ialreadyknowthis/thisisboring

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NonLinearStorytelling

Readerchoosesbitstoread,byfollowinglinks

Newinforma3on

Newtome/thisisinteres3ng

Ialreadyknowthis/thisisboring

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NonLinearStorytellingNoreasonallstoriesneedtobewrienatsame

3me,orbysamepeople,oronsamesite.

onanothersite

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WebWri3ngStyle

OntheInternet,newsar3clesgettothepoint.

Newspaperwri3ng,bycontrast,isencrustedwith

conven3onsthatdontaddtoyourunderstandingofthenews.Newspaperwritersarenottoblame.

Theseconven3onsaretradi3onal,evenmandatory.

MichaelKinsley,CutthisStory

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HowtoMakeStoriesShorter

Gettothepoint. bewareso[leads,whicharealsobadforSEO

Dontexplainwhenyoucanlink. losethoseonesentencedefini3ons dontwastewordsexplainingwhyasourceiscredible backstorygoesinalink

Wellwrienisgood;literaryisarisk thereslotsofgoodwri3ngonline ifthereadercantfigureitoutfromthelead,theyaregoingto

clickelsewhere.

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Evenmoreusesforlinks!

Storytelling Cura3on Transparency CurrencySeeFourjournalis3cusesforthehyperlink.

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WhatImtryingtosayis

Understandanduselinks.Theychangestorytellingformquitealot.Andtheyregoodforgoodjournalism.

Sendyourreaderstootherrelevantstories.

(Yes,Iwillkeeprepea3ngthis.)

Mostthoughtthroughlinkingguide:Wikipedialinkingstyleguide

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PermanenceandChangeability

Ispapermorepermanentthananonlinestory?

Whathappenstopaperayearlater?

Whathappenstoanonlinestoryayearlater?

Whatdoesthismeanforerrorsandcorrec3ons?

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Differencesinreading3me

Aprintstoryisalmostneverreada[ertheday/month/issueofpublica3on.

Anonlinestoryshowsupinsearchresults(ifyourelucky)yearslater

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Differencesinaudienceknowledge

Asubscriberreadingeverydaywillbecaughtuponthestory(theore3cally)

Buttherearemany,manymorestoriesonline.Somostpeoplewontbefollowingmost

stories.

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Ataleoftwoaudiences

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Itturnsoutthatinorderforinforma3onaboutthingslikethepublicop3onandbudgetreconcilia3ontobeusefultoyou,youneedacertainamountofsystemic

knowledgetobeabletoparseit.Youneedanintellectualframeworkforunderstandinghealthcarereformbeforetheepisodicheadlinesrela3ngtohealthcarereformmakeanysense.

Journalistsspendatonof3metryingtoacquirethesystemicknowledgeweneedtoreportanissue,yetwedribbleitoutins3ngybitsbetweenlotsandlotsofworthless,episodicupdates.

MaThompson,TheCaseforContext

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Whatelseismissingfromstories?

Whatweget

whatjusthappenedWhatwemiss:

Thelongstandingfacts Howjournalistsknowwhattheyknow ThethingswedontknowSeeMaThompson,Thethreekeypartsofnewsstorieswe

dontusuallyget.

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TopicPages

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TopicPages

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Whytopicpages

Thecynicalreasons:

WhydoesWikipediagetallthetraffic? Letskeeppeopleonoursite Itsasearchengineop3miza3onstrategy

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Whytopicpages

Thegoodreasons:

Ithelpsexplainthingstoourreaders Itbecomesarepositoryformorepermanentinforma3on

Letsprovideenoughreallycoolcontentthatpeoplewanttostayonoursite

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Makingtopicpageswork

Requiresrealresources.Crappyorinfrequentlyupdatedtopicpagesjustwasteeveryones3me.

Notthesameasautoma3callygeneratedrelatedlinkspages.

Dontwritethemlikenewsstories.Assumethepersonreadingthemisacompleteoutsiderto

thestory.

SeeYelvingtonsATaleofTwoAudiences

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Errors

Theyneedtobeapproacheddifferentlyinprint

andonline.

Printcantactuallybecorrected.Allyoucandoiswriteanotherstory.

Butthewebdemandsthatyoumovefaster

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Onlineerrorcorrec3on

Fixerrorsonline,andletyourreadersknow

ideallywitharevisionhistory

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A(maybe)controversialthought

Howimportantisitreallytoyourreaderstogetallfacts100%rightthefirst3me,every3me?

Speedvs.accuracyvs.costisatradeoff.Where

shouldyourproductbe?

Remember,ontheweb:

1)errorsaremucheasiertocorrecttheydontgetarchived

2)youreallowedtoadmittoyourreadersthatyoudontknoworhaventyetverifiedasource.

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Interac3ves

Theinternetismadeofso[ware.

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BehindtheVeilbyTheGlobeandMail(Canada)

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IraqandAfghanistanCasual3esbyCNN

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Interac3vepaywallrevenuecalculatorbyme

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PrisonValleybyDavidDufresneandPhilippeBrault

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DavidDufresneandPhilippeBrault

TheJoblessRateforPeopleLikeYou,NewYorkTimes

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Informa3onVisualiza3on

Thepurposeofvisualiza3onisinsight,not

pictures.

BenShneiderman

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Seeingstories

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Forexample,SalemCounty,NewJersey,leadsthena3onin

bladdercancermortalityamongwhitemen.Wearibute

thisexcessrisktooccupa3onalexposures,sinceabout25percentoftheemployedpersonsinthiscountyworkin

thechemicalindustry,par3cularlythemanufacturingof

organicchemicals,whichmaycausebladdertumor.A[er

thefindingwascommunicatedtoNewJerseyhealth

officials,acompanyintheareareportedthatatleast0

workersinasingleplanthaddevelopedbladdercancer

duringthelast50years.

Hooveretal.Cancerbycounty,newresourcefore3ologicclues

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Datamaps

worldmapoftouristynessbyBluemoon.ee

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Timeseries

flashcrashanalysisbyMikePaulenoff

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Networks

Amazonpoli3calbooksalesAugust2008,Orgnet.com

b

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Abstractmaps

Cosmic140visualiza3onoftweeters,Informa3onArchitects

b

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Abstractmaps

Cosmic140visualiza3onoftweeters,Informa3onArchitects

Ab

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Abstractmaps

Cosmic140visualiza3onoftweeters,Informa3onArchitects

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Lotsoftoolsforbasicvisualiza3ons

WSJmapofUSmilitarybasesinJapan,madewithGoogleMaps

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Isthisillustra3onorvisualiza3on?

?

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..orart?

synesketch

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Theseexamplesaresta3c

Whatdoesinterac3vitygetyou?

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Interac3vevisualiza3ons:

atoolforinsightShneidermansvisualiza3onprocess:

Overview:Gainanoverviewoftheen3recollec3on. Zoom:Zoominonitemsofinterest Filter:filteroutuninteres3ngitems. Detailsondemand:Selectanitemorgroupandgetdetails

whenneeded.

Relate:Viewrela3onshipsamongitems. History:Keepahistoryofac3onstosupportundo,replay,

andprogressiverefinement.

Extract:Allowextrac3onofsubcollec3onsandofthequeryparameters.

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ArbitraryLength

Postthesourcematerial,nomaerhowlong!

Bigdocuments Ordatabases Fullinterviews,reporterphonerecordings Reportersnotes.Publish,thenfilter!

Allowotherstobuildonyourworkinwaysyoudidntforesee.

DocumentCloud

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DocumentCloud