Although many local news sites don’t have the funds or manpower to create grand multimedia stories, others like Snowfall still exist. Read more for some great examples of multimedia stories that will keep your interest through compelling images, narratives, video, graphics and much more.
Flash Flood: Hurricane Katrina's Inundation of New Orleans
This was an early version of multimedia storytelling. It’s solely an interactive graphic but allows viewers to follow Hurricane Katrina in a time stamped fashion. It’s not the most sexy interactive graphic, I will admit. However, I can follow it. I understand how the hurricane traveled. More importantly, I was engaged the whole time learning about it.
Flash Flood: Hurricane Katrina's Inundation of New Orleans
This was an early version of multimedia storytelling. It’s solely an interactive graphic but allows viewers to follow Hurricane Katrina in a time stamped fashion. It’s not the most sexy interactive graphic, I will admit. However, I can follow it. I understand how the hurricane traveled. More importantly, I was engaged the whole time learning about it.
Johanna: Facing Forward
Another story that I believe is a good multimedia example is The Plain Dealer’s “Facing Forward” series about a woman named Johanna who was beaten by her boyfriend. One of my former professors, Rachel Dissell, is the reporter on it. As a word girl, I admire Rachel’s writing in the eight-part series. She introduces dialogue between the people in the story almost as if she was there telling it. She creates characters, tells a compelling story and at the same time encourages awareness about teen dating violence. The PD also has one web page where it files all stories about Johanna so that readers can follow the most up to date news about her.
While all this is convenient for readers, one aspect of this piece I don’t like is that multimedia is not embedded into the story. There aren’t any slideshows or interactive graphics that give the reader a break from the text. But, in my opinion, the text doesn’t need breaks. It’s compelling and written in such a way where you have no choice but to keep scrolling.
Another story that I believe is a good multimedia example is The Plain Dealer’s “Facing Forward” series about a woman named Johanna who was beaten by her boyfriend. One of my former professors, Rachel Dissell, is the reporter on it. As a word girl, I admire Rachel’s writing in the eight-part series. She introduces dialogue between the people in the story almost as if she was there telling it. She creates characters, tells a compelling story and at the same time encourages awareness about teen dating violence. The PD also has one web page where it files all stories about Johanna so that readers can follow the most up to date news about her.
While all this is convenient for readers, one aspect of this piece I don’t like is that multimedia is not embedded into the story. There aren’t any slideshows or interactive graphics that give the reader a break from the text. But, in my opinion, the text doesn’t need breaks. It’s compelling and written in such a way where you have no choice but to keep scrolling.
This story what chronicles the environment in Chile after its President Salvador Allende was overthrown in 1973 by a military coup. It happened on the same day as the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S., and the author draws parallels between the repression, torture and fear of both events. My friend recommended this story to me since he knew I was interested in Latin American history. The title intrigued me right away because in my lifetime I can’t imagine another event as horrific as 9/11. As a millennial, I understood it because the story related back to an event I experienced.
Although its written nationalistically, I would consider this a historical multimedia narrative, not so much a story. It has title pages that make a statement with powerful images and short quotes that make readers want to keep reading. I liked that with every scroll, my mouse touched a new multimedia element whether it was a video, a row of documents or a photo. Each section of the story is divided into short chapters. I know after I scanned the story, I was surprised at how short each section was and how easy it was to get through such a dense topic.
Although its written nationalistically, I would consider this a historical multimedia narrative, not so much a story. It has title pages that make a statement with powerful images and short quotes that make readers want to keep reading. I liked that with every scroll, my mouse touched a new multimedia element whether it was a video, a row of documents or a photo. Each section of the story is divided into short chapters. I know after I scanned the story, I was surprised at how short each section was and how easy it was to get through such a dense topic.
Intense field reporting is the result of this story about Central American immigrants—namely children—who aim to make their way to the United States for a better life. The Arizona Republic staff who reported this story is smart in how it is told and displayed online. One aspect I especially like about the story is that—similar to The Other 9/11—it has statement photos that divide the story (I actually prefer to call it an investigative piece or historical narrative) into chapters. That way, the reader can decide which aspects of the story he or she finds the most interesting, wants to skip or skim or over.
I also liked how one of the first multimedia elements in the story was a video that summarized this issue. For me, it told readers why they should care, why they need to actually read the story. Other multimedia elements followed including graphs, lots of photos and pull quotes.
This story and “The Other 9/11” both also utilize whitespace well. The text is in the center with white space surrounding it. Multimedia elements act as a welcome break in the whitespace for the reader. Paragraphs are also easy to read as they are maybe two sentences at length. Keeping paragraphs short adds to the whitespace and overall digital artistry that this story, as well as other I’ve discussed in this post, possess.
I also liked how one of the first multimedia elements in the story was a video that summarized this issue. For me, it told readers why they should care, why they need to actually read the story. Other multimedia elements followed including graphs, lots of photos and pull quotes.
This story and “The Other 9/11” both also utilize whitespace well. The text is in the center with white space surrounding it. Multimedia elements act as a welcome break in the whitespace for the reader. Paragraphs are also easy to read as they are maybe two sentences at length. Keeping paragraphs short adds to the whitespace and overall digital artistry that this story, as well as other I’ve discussed in this post, possess.