Sunday, October 12, 2008
Interesting advertising blog
Check out this blog on internet advertising a client at the gym I work at runs. Goes with our discussion of Google search terms.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
ESPN covers cars, and well?!
Good article of the greenest cars at the Paris Auto Show. Quick, concise summaries, good pictures, smooth transitions from one to the next.
Food safety inspectors
*First of five Twitter-style (<=140 characters) posts, or until I get sick of writing like a text message.*
An article in on the Chicago Tribune homepage details food safety inspections. Good use of a database and chunking; could use more photos.
An article in on the Chicago Tribune homepage details food safety inspections. Good use of a database and chunking; could use more photos.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Extensive election article
The Miami Herald recently sent Beth Reinhard to cover the election battleground along I-4 for several days. The substantial article, which is part investigative and part human interest, is presented online alongside a photo gallery and a short video.
Let's start with the positive, the video. It does a good job of showing all the small communities mentioned, with Google Maps transitions into each segment. Seeing and hearing the people shows their emotion and passion about the subject better than words can portray.
That being said, however, the video is extensive enough that it almost renders the print article useless. It presents a few additional points of view and shows what people are feeling better than the article can, though it does a decent job. If the video had a few of the facts the article contains, you wouldn't even have to bother reading the article.
That's the interesting balance that exists when newspapers provide video content: yes, an article is still necessary for the physical newspaper, but if the video contains everything the story needs and does a better job portraying the emotion involved, why wouldn't you devote all your resources to the more powerful storytelling means?
Unfortunately for the time being, that's not possible since you still have to put out a paper copy and videos and paper don't get along (yet).
But maybe instead of linking to the story online, the Herald could link to the video for their e-newsletter subscribers or something like that? Maybe that way they could emphasize the power of the video without diminishing the necessity of the print article.
Oh, and as an afterthought (which is what it happens to be), the photo "gallery" containing two images isn't really necessary. In my opinion, if you have two photos you might as well space them out throughout the story instead of having a slideshow at the top of the page. That might break up the lengthy text anyway.
Let's start with the positive, the video. It does a good job of showing all the small communities mentioned, with Google Maps transitions into each segment. Seeing and hearing the people shows their emotion and passion about the subject better than words can portray.
That being said, however, the video is extensive enough that it almost renders the print article useless. It presents a few additional points of view and shows what people are feeling better than the article can, though it does a decent job. If the video had a few of the facts the article contains, you wouldn't even have to bother reading the article.
That's the interesting balance that exists when newspapers provide video content: yes, an article is still necessary for the physical newspaper, but if the video contains everything the story needs and does a better job portraying the emotion involved, why wouldn't you devote all your resources to the more powerful storytelling means?
Unfortunately for the time being, that's not possible since you still have to put out a paper copy and videos and paper don't get along (yet).
But maybe instead of linking to the story online, the Herald could link to the video for their e-newsletter subscribers or something like that? Maybe that way they could emphasize the power of the video without diminishing the necessity of the print article.
Oh, and as an afterthought (which is what it happens to be), the photo "gallery" containing two images isn't really necessary. In my opinion, if you have two photos you might as well space them out throughout the story instead of having a slideshow at the top of the page. That might break up the lengthy text anyway.
The Miami Herald's chef-for-a-week
The narrative form is one being less often used in the newspaper world, but in certain instances like this article detailing Evan Benn's experience at a high-end restaurant, it can be an effective way of presenting a story.
Benn tells of how he spent a week at Azul learning tips from the restaurant's chef. He tells of his pains and trials in the first person, another rare form for newspapers, though this story appears in the "Living" section so it's more fitting.
The article is accompanied online by a video and photo slideshow of his efforts. The video is a good addition to the story as it gives a real taste for what life is like behind the counter. It's pretty well-produced for an in-house production as well.
The slideshow is another good addition because it highlights some of the more interesting moments in the story in an easily relatable way.
I also like the sidebar telling some take-home tips for readers to apply in their own kitchens.
Overall, the first person isn't the best way to tell the news but in this case it's an effective story form to tell about a reporter himself being the "news," and the multimedia aspects included offer an invaluable look into the experiment.
Benn tells of how he spent a week at Azul learning tips from the restaurant's chef. He tells of his pains and trials in the first person, another rare form for newspapers, though this story appears in the "Living" section so it's more fitting.
The article is accompanied online by a video and photo slideshow of his efforts. The video is a good addition to the story as it gives a real taste for what life is like behind the counter. It's pretty well-produced for an in-house production as well.
The slideshow is another good addition because it highlights some of the more interesting moments in the story in an easily relatable way.
I also like the sidebar telling some take-home tips for readers to apply in their own kitchens.
Overall, the first person isn't the best way to tell the news but in this case it's an effective story form to tell about a reporter himself being the "news," and the multimedia aspects included offer an invaluable look into the experiment.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Michael J. Fox feature
As mentioned previously, USAToday.com has a featured video section on its website. One that stuck out to me today was one on Michael J. Fox speaking about Parkinson's research.
I only clicked on the story to see his speech since I figured it'd be powerful. It certainly was, whether you agree with his message or not. In this case, the video was really the only way to convey the emotion of the event.
I think the editors made the right call going with a video feature rather than a more text-based story since it only required a short piece and text would lose the gravity of his speech.
One downside is you have to scan through a bunch of videos on the election that are of dubious necessity to even notice the powerful video, so maybe this is a case where less would be more?
I only clicked on the story to see his speech since I figured it'd be powerful. It certainly was, whether you agree with his message or not. In this case, the video was really the only way to convey the emotion of the event.
I think the editors made the right call going with a video feature rather than a more text-based story since it only required a short piece and text would lose the gravity of his speech.
One downside is you have to scan through a bunch of videos on the election that are of dubious necessity to even notice the powerful video, so maybe this is a case where less would be more?
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Embarrassing error
Getting the scores from the big games practically immediately is undoubtedly one of the benefits of online, but the rush to post the news as quickly as possible can lead to errors.
The USAToday.com front page has the Cubs-Dodgers score mistakenly listed as 8-2, while it was actually 7-2. This isn't a huge gaffe but especially for those of us who weren't going to the home page for the score and just happened to notice it, it's important since we might not bother to click on the story where the score is correctly listed.
It's also over an hour after the game ended, and if someone hasn't noticed the error by now that brings up major questions over the paper's online practices.
What if the incorrect digit was in the Dow Jones price? If they'd listed it down 877 the other day rather than 777, that might be a big deal in trading, especially if they didn't notice it for an extended period of time.
I've written baseball scores before. It's pretty simple to get the numbers right.
You check them twice.
I expect better from a major news source like USA Today.
The USAToday.com front page has the Cubs-Dodgers score mistakenly listed as 8-2, while it was actually 7-2. This isn't a huge gaffe but especially for those of us who weren't going to the home page for the score and just happened to notice it, it's important since we might not bother to click on the story where the score is correctly listed.
It's also over an hour after the game ended, and if someone hasn't noticed the error by now that brings up major questions over the paper's online practices.
What if the incorrect digit was in the Dow Jones price? If they'd listed it down 877 the other day rather than 777, that might be a big deal in trading, especially if they didn't notice it for an extended period of time.
I've written baseball scores before. It's pretty simple to get the numbers right.
You check them twice.
I expect better from a major news source like USA Today.
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