Slides I presented at PUCRS, October 2, 2014. See also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iJLXvusL28

1. Story First
Maria Lassila-Merisalo, PhD
PUCRS
2.10.2014
Maria Lassila-Merisalo ● @Maria_L_M ● www.linkedin.com/in/marialm

2. The Study
• What happens when a long,
narrative story is taken from print
into digital and mobile environment?
• Materials: The Atavist and Long Play
plus a survey of six practitioners
(Finland, Denmark, UK, Italy, US)
Maria Lassila-Merisalo ● @Maria_L_M ● www.linkedin.com/in/marialm

3. Maria Lassila-Merisalo ● @Maria_L_M ● www.linkedin.com/in/marialm

4. The Atavist
Maria Lassila-Merisalo ● @Maria_L_M ● www.linkedin.com/in/marialm

5. Maria Lassila-Merisalo ● @Maria_L_M ● www.linkedin.com/in/marialm

6. audio book
music
extras
audio clip
photo
+ timetables,
maps etc.
Maria Lassila-Merisalo ● @Maria_L_M ● www.linkedin.com/in/marialm

7. Double-Edged Sword
• Versatile media elements add to the
AUTHENTICITY of the story and can also
increase IMMERSION — but only to a certain
point!
• “Certainly in the last two years we’ve seen
publishers using lots of features at once
because they could, rather than because they
should...”
Maria Lassila-Merisalo ● @Maria_L_M ● www.linkedin.com/in/marialm

8. ”…The popularity of Snowfall was mostly responsible.”
”From the first moment, with the
snow sweeping across the screen in
the header gif, to each interactive
element, it has the feel of a feature
film -- in that the reader is just
totally swept up in the story and it
feels less like an article than an
experience.”
Maria Lassila-Merisalo ● @Maria_L_M ● www.linkedin.com/in/marialm

9. Finding the Balance
• John Jeremiah Sullivan: The Ballad of Geeshie
and Elvie
(The New York Times Magazine, 13.4.2014)
• Multimedia elements (too) must be deliberate
and always support the story!
Maria Lassila-Merisalo ● @Maria_L_M ● www.linkedin.com/in/marialm

10. More Important than Video and Audio
• accessibility (mobile technology, universality)
• being present where the readers are (social
media)
• shareability, recommendability (social media)
• interactivity (reader comments)
Maria Lassila-Merisalo ● @Maria_L_M ● www.linkedin.com/in/marialm

11. Revenue Logic
• “-- it's just really hard to grow a
big business on things you sell for
$2–4 per month, as I think
anyone would agree.”
(Evan Ratliff, The Atavist)
Maria Lassila-Merisalo ● @Maria_L_M ● www.linkedin.com/in/marialm

12. Additional Revenue Streams
• subscription model (vs. selling individual
stories)
• ads (not so much in the story / pop-up
windows, but through eg. sponsorships)
• renting the software to customers (Atavist →
Creatavist)
• consulting (eg. actors in the third sector,
companies…)
Maria Lassila-Merisalo ● @Maria_L_M ● www.linkedin.com/in/marialm

13. Additional Revenue Streams
• organizing events (conferences, literature
events, Zetland Live etc.)
• content agency (Narratively Creative Group)
• residual rights (stories into movies, books, TV
shows etc.)
Maria Lassila-Merisalo ● @Maria_L_M ● www.linkedin.com/in/marialm

14. Thank you!
• Essay: Story First — Publishing Narrative Long-
Form Journalism in Digital Environments
• These slides on SlideShare
• LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/marialm
• Twitter: @Maria_L_M
• maria.lassila-merisalo@iki.fi
Maria Lassila-Merisalo ● @Maria_L_M ● www.linkedin.com/in/marialm