Trends in Multimedia Journalism

Cindy Royal, Ph.D

Assistant Professor

Texas State University

School of Journalism and Mass Communication

croyal@txstate.edu

www.cindyroyal.com

www.onthatnote.com

cindytech.wordpress.com

1997Black Hawk Down

1998Drudge ReportGoogle1999BloggerIndyMedia

2000OhMyNewsAOL/Time Warner merger

2001DotCom Bust9/11 TributesWikipedia launched

2002Google News

2004Jon Stewart on CrossfireRathergatePress Credentials to BloggersWikiNews, Facebook, Digg

2005YouTubeNews Corporation buys MySpace2006

MacacaInvention of the Year - YouTubePerson of the Year - YouGoogle Buys YouTube $1.65B

2003RSSGoogle Buys BloggerMySpace launched

1995Craigslist launchedSlate, Salon, USA Today, Houston Chronicle, Philadelphia Inquirer online

2007VA TechTwitter tips at SXSWInvention of the Year - iPhoneCNN/ YouTube Debates

Pre-1995Wired Magazine - 1993NY Times on AOL - 1994Nando -1994

1996Washington PostWall Street JournalChicago TribuneLA TimesMSNBC

2008CBS acquires CNETCandidates embrace social mediaEveryBlock.com

Milestones in Multimedia

2009

1st phone from scene

Key Terms

• Blog• Web 2.0 • User-generated content• Mobile/Moblogging• Mashup• RSS • Tag/ Tag Cloud• Podcast/Vcast• Wiki• Web-first journalism• Programmer/Journalist

New opportunities for storytelling

http://newspapervideo.ning.com/profile/JorgeSanhuezaLyon

Think story, not tools

• Writing is still key • Tell engaging stories• A People Torn, Minneapolis Star Tribune

http://www.startribune.com/local/11608761.html

Focus on visual, sound

• Maximize use of photos, audio, video where appropriate

• National Geographic - Ivory Warshttp://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/03/ivory-wars/fay-text

Make it interactive

• Involve the user• User as contributor• NY Times - Rent vs. Buy

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/10/business/2007_BUYRENT_GRAPHIC.html

Integrate media

• Don’t fixate on one medium; seamlessly integrate text, audio, video, photos, interactivity, graphics

• Be comfortable working in teams• Washington Post - Being a Black Man• http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro/interactives/blackmen/blackmen.html

Have a broad base of skills

• Pick the right tool for the job• http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/03/30/business/economy/2009-economy-

words.html?ref=multimedia

Pool your resources

• Combine existing work on the same topic into a cohesive package

• Las Vegas Sun – History of Las Vegashttp://www.lasvegassun.com/history/

Be creative

• Get ideas from other industries: advertising, technology, social networking.

• Seek best practices• Washington Post - On Being

http://specials.washingtonpost.com/onbeing/

Be creative

• Please Touch Museum – Philadelphia Inquirerhttp://www.philly.com/inquirer/special/30621649.html

Use data

• Geography of a Recession – NY Timeshttp://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/03/03/us/20090303_LEONHARDT.html

Provide resources

• Age of Uncertainty – Roanoke Timeshttp://blogs.roanoke.com/ageofuncertainty/

Student Projects

• Learn skills in XHTML, CSS, Flash, graphic design, photo, audio, & video editing

• Digital Storytelling via integration of tools• A Toast to the Hill Country -

mclabserv.oldmain.txstate.edu/wine_tour• San Marcos Online -

mclabserv.oldmain.txstate.edu/sanmarcos• Thread Austin -

mclabserv.oldmain.txstate.edu/threadaustin• Firestation Studios - http://www.jonzmikly.com/final/• Pop-up Music Buzz -

http://cncooper.com/popupmusic/index.html• South By Texas State – www.sxtxstate.com

Issues and Questions

• Skills students need to be prepared to contribute to multimedia environment

• How to teach critical thinking and judgment, as opposed to tools

• What’s next?

Resources• SXSW Interactive - www.sxsw.com/interactive• Wired Magazine - www.wired.com• Cyberjournalist.net - Great Work Gallery -

www.cyberjournalist.net/category/great-work-gallery• Online News Association - ona.org• Online Journalism Awards - http://www.journalists.org/• Knight Digital Media Center - www.knightdigitalmediacenter.org• Poynter Online and Multimedia - www.poynter.org/subject.asp?id=26• Wired Journalists - wiredjournalists.com/• Online Journalism Review Archives - ojr.org• Interactive Narratives - interactivenarratives.org/• News Videographer Blog - Angela Grant - newsvideographer.com• We The Media by Dan Gillmor• Convergence Culture by Henry Jenkins• The Long Tail by Chris Anderson (forthcoming book “Free” coming in July)• Editor & Publisher Awards -

royal.reliaserve.com/eppy/winners2008.html• Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication - jcmc.indiana.edu