A simple definition of multimedia journalism: “the integration of text, images, sound, video, and graphics to tell a journalistic story.”
For a current example, see The New York Times feature In First Lady’s Roots, a Complex Path From Slavery. It includes a standard newspaper article, an archive of original documents, an interactive family tree with photographs, graphics, and an audio slide show, a 7-minute radio piece, and a series of blog posts related to the topic.
However, even as they practice multimedia journalism, professionals in the industry are still trying to understand and articulate the characteristics of the format.
To learn more:
1. Visit http://www.multimediastandards.org/ – a project created by students at the University of Miami.
2. Read the Summary page.
3. Visit The Grid. Pick three industry leaders. Look at her/his bio. And listen to three audio clips from each one:
- Definition of Multimedia
- Essentials of Good Multimedia
- How is storytelling different in multimedia than traditional media?
4. Then visit the Submit/Critiques page.
Look at two of the multimedia journalism projects. Spend some time on the site.
Rate them.
Leave a substantive comment on one.
