This document discusses tools and techniques for modern journalism. It begins by stating that journalism has never been more exciting due to new possibilities for finding, telling, and sharing stories. It then provides examples of tools that can help with different aspects of storytelling like brainstorming, research, mapping investigations, monitoring topics, recording interviews, making maps and timelines, and creating visualizations and infographics. The document emphasizes that storytelling tools should attract attention, create interest, add value and engage readers. It also stresses the importance of focusing on a curated selection of tools that can handle 80% of the work, while experimenting with new tools for the other 20%.

1. NewsXChange Berlin 2015

2. +
#storytooling @ezraeeman @timverheyden
@Journalism2ls
@HowToStory

3. Journalism anno 2015?

4. “For anyone interested in reporting the world
- finding stories, telling stories, sharing stories –
it’s all become so much more possible.
We are living at the most exciting time for
journalism since the advent of television.”
James
Harding,
Director
of
News
&
Current
Affairs
BBC.

12. Reporting
= knowledge

13. Storytelling
= understand &
remember

16. Everything starts
with a good story

17. S E
R V
A Good Story

18. Simple
One story with one
baseline.
Emotional
Universal emotions and
feelings, obstacles and a
goal.
Value
An added value for the viewer
encourages reflection and
action.
Real
Seek for authenticity in what you
tell and who you show.
S E
R V
A Good Story

19. Story Building Blocks
4 C

20. Character &
Motivation
{
Conflict
(internal/external)
{
Connection
Universal feeling.
Why Should I Care
{
Ongoing aCtion
c
Story Building Blocks
ccc

21. Find a strong compelling character
that people can relate to.
Film him/her doing something other
than talking (unfolding action)
Look for a conflict or complication or
unanswered question that you will
resolve (or not).
Simplify your answer by the end of
the video.
Bob Sacha.

22. But how?

23. idea research report publication feedback
? ?
A
E
2
I
s
n
é
v
h
é
7
9

26. 1. Google Docs
Write & think together.

28. 2. XMind
Think & brainstorm story angels
visualy.

30. 3. Realtime Board
Make moodboards with people,
locations, relationships, numbers,…

32. 4. Visual Investigative
Scenarios
Map your investigation visually.

36. 5. Google Alerts
Stay on top of a topic

37. 6. Versionista
Track changes on a website.

39. 7. IFTTT
Automate actions between different
web apps.
1. Send tweets with a certain hashtag
to Google docs.
2. Get a daily digest of location based
tweets.
3. Get a sms when a certain person
mails.
4. Archive your pictures to dropbox.
5. Link Feedly with Evernote
6. ...

43. THINK
SEE
SAY
DO
FEEL
HEAR
PAINS GAINS

44. 8. Social Me
Get a full view of someone’s social
media presence.

45. 9. Graph Tips
Deep Facebook Research

47. 10. Follower Wonk
Deep Twitter Search

51. 11. Newspaper Map
Find and translate all newspapers in
the world.

52. 12. Banjo Discovery
Social media search & news
monitoring based on location &
events.

54. 13. Vibe
Mobile app to monitor social media
based on location.

55. 14. Maps Engine
Make maps with data layers during
and after your production.

58. 15. Filmic Pro
Video app with professional
settings.
16. Interviewy
Good audio recorder with
transcription function.
17. VSOCAM
One of the many photo apps out
there…but one of our favorites.
Reporting

60. N
lineair

61. N
branched

62. N
parallel

65. Good tools attracts attention,
raise interest for the subject, add
value and engage the reader to
stay longer on the page, dig
deeper and share the story.
4 MUST HAVES FOR
STORYTELLING TOOLS
01ATTENTION
04ENGAGEMENT
03VALUE
02INTEREST
W
j ^
ls

66. Interaction
Determine the level of
interaction you want. Do you
push, pull, allow
conversation, ask for
interaction. Is it live or not?
Single- or multi-user?
V
Time/Skill
How much time do you have
to build something? 10
minutes or 10 months? How
much skill do you need to get
the job done?
$
Price
Check the price. Some tools
are open source and free.
Others work with
subscriptions, clicks or have
to be bought.
a
Story Elements
Identify the elements of your
story. Which one do you want
to highlight or add with a
tool? Time, place, persons,
sounds, images,
relationships, data,...
“
Form/Function
Make sure the form of your
tool follows the function it
has and not the other way
around. Don’t distract, add
value.
5
Platform
Consider the platform your
readers will use to access the
story: web, mobile, touch,...
U
„

69. 18. VRT Immersiv
New tool by VRT Start-UP to build rich
media stories.

71. 19. Timeline.js
Simple tool to build beautiful
timelines.

72. 20. StoryMaps.js
Drag & drop interactive maps.

73. 21. Thinglink
Drag & drop interactive images.

74. 22. Mattermap
Interactive mindmap to map
discusssions.

76. 23. Pablo 2.0
Easy social images.

77. 24. Chirp
Tweet audio recordings.
25. Soundcite
Embed audio seamlessly in your
texts.
Audio
26. Jamsnap
Add sound to pictures.

78. 27. Opinion
Ultimate podcast app.

79. 28. Infogram
Easy embeddable infographics.

80. 29. Viz
Mobile app for simple data viz.

82. Pick
Keep it simple. Chose tools that suit your workflow.
Stick
Be consequent.
Dig
Get to know your tools. Learn the shortcuts. RTFM.
c
z
e

83. The 80/20 Rule
;
Focus on what works for you. Make a
selection of 10 tools to do 80% of the work.
Be open for new things. Dare to experiment
in 20% of your work.
experiments
daily
20%
80%

84. Want to try this at your newsroom?
Need a workshop?
Contact: ezra.eeman@vrt.be or
tim.verheyden@vrt.be