Page 39 - Convergent Journalism an Introduction Writing and Producing Across Media

Covering the News in the Multimedia World

know the outcome and there may be a few good audio and
video opportunities.
• Web: Once again, this is where most of the opportunities lie. The
first thought is to include all of the other stories on the
Web site. You can always upload to your Web site a PDF of the
day’s newspaper article, the audio file from the radio broadcast,
and the video package from the television station. This will give
your audience a chance to catch up with what it might have
missed. That’s a good start, but many people have already
gotten those stories from the newspaper, radio, or TV, so the
Web must do more than repeat what other media have stated.
The Web provides ways for readers to interact with a story, so
give them that opportunity. Include an interactive view of what
the store will look like. Add a 360-degree view of how the store
will look from peoples’ yards. Use extensive interviews with
residents and council members about why they do or don’t want
the store nearby. Show a slide show of what a comparable store
looks like. Maybe even throw in an exercise in which people can
try designing the perfect layout. Add a poll, which asks users to 29
cast their vote on the issue.

This is a lot of story, so how do you allocate resources? The assignment
editor has to determine that, depending on who is available. First,
decide where you need people:

• At the meeting
• In the neighborhood
• In the newsroom researching similar stores and cities
• In the newsroom making graphics and interactive graphics

Chances are that the “super reporter” will not be able to cover all angles
of this story. So here are some examples of what you can do. There is
no right or wrong answer.
Crew 1 (two people) talks with people to get several sides of the
story before the meeting using a video camera and a still camera. One
person gathers the information and the other gathers the multimedia.
Stills can be used in print. The same or similar stills can feed the 360-
degree tour and provide the photo gallery for the Web. TV uses the
video. Radio can use the video camera audio for the sound. At the