What multimedia offers the web
This my reaction to the Jane Stevens reading “Multimedia storytelling.”
(http://multimedia.journalism.berkeley.edu/tutorials/)
In Stevens’ website, she outlines the process of creating of multimedia story.
Stevens defines a multimedia story as a “combination of text, still photographs, video clips, audio, graphics and interactivity presented on a website.”
It seems that most newspapers are also moving their content online offering a multimedia experience for people to use.
For instance, the Geelong Advertiser’s online website (www.geelongadvertiser.com.au) offers all of what Steven suggested a multimedia story comprises of, even though the Geelong Advertiser started as a regional newspaper.
Stevens’ multimedia website, The Dancing Rocks of Death Valley (http://multimedia.journalism.berkeley.edu/tutorials/examples/rocks/), is an example of a website that used elements of video, text and photographs in order to make the website livelier.
Stevens said that “most multimedia stories require that the reporter go into the field to report the story face-to-face with sources, rather than doing a story entirely by telephone.”
For reporters, and also myself, covering a story that allowed a chance to video or record an event or conversation sounds far more interesting that to do a basic interview with someone over the phone!
I think that by offering the elements of a multimedia website, news based sites will become more interesting and perhaps draw in more visitors to their website allowing people to read the news that they might miss out by not buying the daily newspaper.
