Multimedia and Interactivity

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CHAPTER 9

• Multimedia and Interactivity

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Overview

• Basic types of media elements
• Methods used in advanced interactivity to enhance
  journalistic storytelling
• Issues that go into decision making about types
  of media and interactivity
• Examples of how interactivity and multimedia
  elements are used

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Interactivity

• Allows users to manipulate information and to
  contribute to the story
• Promotes user involvement and understanding
• Results in an online journalism story that is a
  collection of contributions from journalists,
  experts and individual readers

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Types of Media Elements

• Graphics
• Sound
• Video
• Rich content

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Graphics

• PhotographsHelp convey the emotion or essence of
  the story
• MapsSpecify location of the news story
• Technical illustrationsShow how a system works
• Information graphicsShow relationships between
  numbers or concepts (bar chart, line chart)

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Sound

• When to use sound
• Does it help tell the story?
• Does it convey to users a sense of being there?
• How to integrate sound with the story
• With basic HTML, a plug-in plays the sound clip
• Supplement HTML with Java or Flash for a more
  immersive effect

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Digitizing Sound

• The process of converting sound into digital
  form, using an audio editing program
• Produces high quality sound
• Clips take longer to download

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Three Parameters in Selecting Digitizing Quality

• Sampling rate
• Bit depth
• Channels

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Digital Sound Formats

• Streaming (RealAudio)
• MP3 (best compromise for music)

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Video

• When to use video
• Does it help tell the story?
• Does it show something unique?
• How to combine video with the story
• With basic HTML, video clips disrupt flow of
  story
• Users should be allowed to choose whether they
  want to view video

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Digitizing and Editing Video

• Produces high quality video but larger files that
  require more bandwidth
• Requires a specialized video capture card
• Compression can make files smaller
• MPEG-1 or MPEG-4
• Choose settings based on individual preferences,
  e.g., smooth motion or frame detail

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Uses of Video Editing Software

• To combine or edit individual clips
• To edit clips together
• To change beginning/end of clips
• To perform special effectsdissolves and slow
  motion

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Example of Video Editing Software
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Rich Content

• Additions to HTML that allow greater
  interactivity and control of individual media
  elements
• Java
• Flash

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Advanced Interactivity

• Forums and blogs
• Databases

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Making Media Decisions

• Nature of the story
• Target audience
• Available resources

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Example of Interactive and Multimedia
ContentAgence France-Presse
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Example of Interactive and Multimedia
ContentMSNBC
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Example of Interactive and Multimedia
ContentCenter for Public Integrity
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Example of Interactive and Multimedia
ContentMSNBC