This document discusses best practices for online multimedia journalism. It emphasizes that online video is different than broadcast TV and outlines some BASIC principles for online content, including brevity, adaptability, scannability, interactivity, and narrative storytelling. Specifically, it notes the importance of characters, setting, and movement in crafting an engaging narrative online.

1. 6: Multimedia
JOM845 Online Journalism
Monday, 23 January 2012

2. This week in 3 bullets:
• Online video is not broadcast journalism
• BASIC principles
• Remember the 3 elements of narrative:
characters, setting, and movement
Monday, 23 January 2012

3. Media companies are [responding
to increased demand for video],
with the New York Times TimesCast
series, the Wall Street Journal’s
WSJ Live, and more. [Rumours]
about a Huffington Post streaming
news channel. Reuters are chasing
[new advertising and new
audiences]
http://www.niemanlab.org/2012/01/its-not-tv-its-reuters-tv-rethinking-a-news-channel-for-online-audiences//
Monday, 23 January 2012

4. “At a time when other categories of
advertising dollars are shrinking,
video ads are booming. News sites
are adding more video inventory to
keep pace with the demands of
advertisers, and benefiting from the
higher cost-per-thousands, or
C.P.M.’s, that ads on those videos
command.”
,
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/business/media/11adco.html
Monday, 23 January 2012

5. 41 hours in an elevator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_bMhNI_TY8
Monday, 23 January 2012

6. Different medium,
different rules
Speed and depth again.
Monday, 23 January 2012

7. McLuhan’s tetrad of media
effects
- What does the medium enhance?
- What does it make obsolete?
- What does the medium retrieve that
had been obsolesced earlier?
- What does the medium flip into when
pushed to extremes?
Monday, 23 January 2012

8. The web is not TV or radio
- Different devices and uses: mobile,
tablets, desktop computers
- Different production and commercial
demands: irregular, engaged
Monday, 23 January 2012

9. New forms of audio
- Podcasting
- Audio slideshows
- Audioboos
(facilitated by new production
technology: mobile, Skype, RSS,
multimedia)
Monday, 23 January 2012

10. Listen: Humour and podcasting
Monday, 23 January 2012

11. Hedy Korbee audio slideshow
Monday, 23 January 2012

12. New focus in online video
- Experiential
- Direct
- Speak
- Show
- Explain
http://www.reportr.net/2011/09/30/how-online-video-is-different-from-television/
Monday, 23 January 2012

13. Video style influences: NYT op-ed on Wall Street Protesters:
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/10/02/opinion/
100000001084589/advice-for-the-wall-street-protesters.html
Monday, 23 January 2012

14. Watch: BBC walkthroughs
Monday, 23 January 2012

15. Online, there is often no need for
the reporter as an intermediary, as a
user will have already read the
story. “Video clips now tend to get
more traffic overall than long-form
news programmes on iPlayer”.
Traditional, longer-form news video
“is not – for now anyway – proving
that compelling for news
consumers online.”
Steve Herrmann, BBC, quoted in Alfred Hermida:
http://www.reportr.net/2010/09/20/lessons-bbc-online-video-works/
Monday, 23 January 2012

16. BASIC principles
..
Monday, 23 January 2012

17. Brevity
Keep it simple, stupid.
Monday, 23 January 2012

18. People read…
25% slower
Source: Jakob Nielsen: http://bit.ly/G4auC
Monday, 23 January 2012

19. less than 28% of words
Jakob Nielsen: http://bit.ly/ZYni
Monday, 23 January 2012

20. One.
idea.
per.
par.
Monday, 23 January 2012

21. Adaptability
Online, information becomes a tool.
Monday, 23 January 2012

22. Scannability
Task-oriented users.
Monday, 23 January 2012

23. Elements of scannability
- Headlines and subheadings
- Bullet and numbered lists
- Blockquotes
- Links and bold text
- A clear and simple intro
Monday, 23 January 2012

24. Interactivity
What might the user want to do?
Monday, 23 January 2012

25. Link
Monday, 23 January 2012

26. mashup
wiki
database
live chat
gallery
poll
Think...
webcast
forum blog
quiz video
user
Q&A image map
Monday, 23 January 2012

27. Community and
conversation
Users as co-creators of news.
Monday, 23 January 2012

28. 41 years stuck in an elevator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zh04ipAv1BI
Monday, 23 January 2012

29. Narrative
More basic principles
Monday, 23 January 2012

30. If you’re telling a story...
- Characters
- Setting
- Movement
Monday, 23 January 2012

31. Character
- Compelling characters
- Conflict and chemistry
- The non-visual and non-aural (don’t
stop recording)
- Don’t script - prepare
- Take yourself out
Monday, 23 January 2012

32. Setting and movement
- Wild track to set the stage...
- ...and pace the story
- Shoot video for sound
- Or describe what’s happening
Monday, 23 January 2012

33. Movement
- Movement in composition: lines and the
rule of thirds
- Edit simply (simple or no transitions)
- Don’t cut on movement
- Variety of shots
- Shoot for sequences
Monday, 23 January 2012

34. Movement
- Conflict
- Disruption and resolution (discussion)
Monday, 23 January 2012

35. http://www.andrewlih.com/blog/2011/10/01/fiveshotpattern/
http://www.photographyicon.com/line/
Monday, 23 January 2012

36. ...and the point is?
NPR’s Ira Glass on stories, reflection
and resolution
Ira Glass on storytelling
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7KQ4vkiNUk
Monday, 23 January 2012

37. This week's lab.
Picking the right medium for the story
Interviewing for research; interviewing
for media
Planning multimedia: character, setting
and movement
Monday, 23 January 2012

38. Further reading.
Delicious.com/paulb/cityOJ05
Delicious.com/paulb/multimedia
Delicious.com/paulb/podcasts
Delicious.com/paulb/audioslideshows
Delicious.com/paulb/onlinevideo
Delicious.com/paulb/BASIC
Monday, 23 January 2012

39. Rocketboom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DasHUr4nEro
Lauren Luke
http://www.youtube.com/user/panacea81#p/u/1/n33D637_hLs
Guardian Films
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/video/2010/jan/20/blackpool-
tower
Ze Frank
http://www.zefrank.com/theshow/archives/2006/11/112706.html
Transmission Tower
http://www.artifacting.com/blog/2010/09/15/climbing-a-1768-
foot-transmission-tower/
Video: Charlie Brooker - how to report the news
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtGSXMuWMR4
Monday, 23 January 2012