
Multimedia is the New Print
When we installed our major
site upgrade in April we added a lot of features. Dedicated blogs, for example.
Multiple photos for stories. Daily records, more special sections and easily
managed links to related sites.
One thing we're still working on is multimedia,
which is probably a good long-term goal for everyone in print journalism to be
thinking about.
There's no way for broadcast media to compete with
the depth or breadth of coverage available in any single issue of the
newspaper. But even color print sources have struggled to provide the kind of
show-and-tell available in broadcast media.
As more news organizations have established their
presence online, broadcasters have worked to increase the depth and breadth of
their coverage, which is limited by time and ad support, and print operations
have explored multimedia, which is a buzzword for sound and video.
If
you click around you'll find other print operations in the state have started
hosting their own video, which is still new territory for most of us.
Multimedia is more complicated than print and still photography. It requires
more attention to light and sound than anything we put in print.
But
in the same way a picture is worth 1,000 words, a video is worth 1,000
pictures. Short demonstration videos can give readers a deeper sense of what
they can expect, say, from a dance recital or a play than a story precede or
even a review.
And
while the capabilities of multimedia pale in comparison to what's available
from broadcast media, it does expand our content, ultimately increase the value
of our information product and gets our reporters and contributors thinking
visually, which is only a benefit.
The
trend is toward more and more easily accessible multimedia. As more of our
readers access their news electronically, our goal is to continue to provide
the best and broadest coverage of life in our region. And as our capabilities
increase, that coverage will only get better and more visually interesting.
With
that goal in mind, The Minot Daily News currently has a YouTube account for short video clips
linked from selected stories on our site. Links are also highlighted where
possible in the paper. Occasionally linked material is changed or removed so
the information at minotdailynews.com
will be the most up-to-date.
Finally,
any reactions, suggestions, comments or critiques are welcome and can be
submitted to me through this site at tj@tjaman.com.
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