{"id":3892,"date":"2013-01-08T08:41:55","date_gmt":"2013-01-08T13:41:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/?p=3892"},"modified":"2017-04-20T00:22:08","modified_gmt":"2017-04-20T04:22:08","slug":"snow-fall-and-storytelling-in-higher-ed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/snow-fall-and-storytelling-in-higher-ed\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Snow Fall\u2019 and Storytelling in Higher Ed"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Snow
The next evolution of online journalism yields insights for higher ed storytelling.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Dec. 20, The New York Times wowed readers and industry peers alike with the publication of an interactive feature called \u201cSnow Fall<\/a>,\u201d which told the story of a fatal avalanche in Washington\u2019s Cascade Mountains this past February. It was not your ordinary multimedia feature. It brought words, pictures, video and interactive graphics together in a whole new way that had many hailing the project as a harbinger of the future of journalism.<\/p>\n

That challenge may sound familiar. Increasingly, we in higher ed are finding ourselves needing to figure out how to wrangle multiple content elements\u2014say, a video, a story, and a photo gallery\u2014into a cohesive presentation.<\/p>\n

In the six days following its launch, \u201cSnow Fall\u201d received more than 3.5 million pageviews and 2.9 million visitors\u2014nearly a third of whom were new visitors to nytimes.com, according to a New York Times memo<\/a>. <\/p>\n

What made \u201cSnow Fall\u201d both so successful and so widely lauded? The feature marked a big step forward in the evolution of online storytelling. From the earliest stages of developing \u201cSnow Fall,\u201d writers, researchers, designers, developers and multimedia experts all worked together to craft a compelling narrative wreathed in a natural user experience.<\/p>\n

So, another day, another online journalism innovation. What does it mean for us and our higher ed newsrooms? Our resources pale in comparison to the Times\u2019\u2014after all, \u201cSnow Fall\u201d took six months and nearly a dozen staffers to bring to life. What does this latest notch in the Gray Lady\u2019s belt mean for higher ed?<\/p>\n

As it turns out, it means a lot.<\/p>\n

Go With the Flow<\/h2>\n

One of the great accomplishments of \u201cSnow Fall\u201d is how it made its multimedia elements not feel tacked on or awkwardly lodged into sidebars, but rather part of a natural, contiguous reading experience. The New York Times is not the first online news organization to attempt this (see ESPN\u2019s E-Ticket series for some great<\/a> examples<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\n
Sometimes, effective storytelling simply comes down to common sense and resourcefulness.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

NYTimes.com graphics director Steve Duenes told Poynter<\/a> that the goal of the feature was \u201cso it didn\u2019t feel like you were taking a detour, but the multimedia was part of the one narrative flow.\u201d As you scroll through the story, which The Atlantic Wire rightly calls an \u201cexperience-based feature,\u201d the placement of various elements is contextual, the transitions between them smooth, and the structure compelling and sensible.<\/p>\n

Some of the elements used to achieve this aren\u2019t so much technologically sophisticated as they just make sense, like short \u201cbio cards\u201d that appear contextually as a new character is introduced, which readers can click to learn more about that person\u2019s background.. Come to think of it, our stories are also replete with \u201ccharacters\u201d\u2014faculty, students, prominent alumni. Perhaps that faculty expert or alumni database could be put to work in a new and enlightening way. <\/p>\n

Sometimes, effective storytelling simply comes down to common sense and resourcefulness.<\/p>\n

A New Way of Working Together<\/h2>\n

Beyond the shiny appearance of \u201cSnow Fall,\u201d the heart of the effort was storytelling. As reporter John Branch put it<\/a>, \u201cwhen I returned with their stories, and we saw how their various perspectives of the same avalanche wove together, we invited the smart people in our interactive and graphics departments to help with the telling.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was this collaboration\u2014which was baked into the project from the very get-go, even as Branch was in the midst of reporting, drafting and sourcing the story\u2014which brought \u201cSnow Fall\u201d to life. (As we know, collaboration is key to content strategy success in higher ed<\/a>.) And it wasn\u2019t about throwing tons of media at a story\u2014rather, just the right media, in the proper amounts and balance.<\/p>\n

\n
[“Snow Fall”] was an editing project that required us to weave things together so that text, video, photography and graphics could all be consumed in a way that was similar to reading\u2014a different kind of reading. – Steve Duenes, The New York Times<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe larger project wasn\u2019t a typical design effort,\u201d Duenes told Source. \u201cIt was an editing project that required us to weave things together so that text, video, photography and graphics could all be consumed in a way that was similar to reading\u2014a different kind of reading.\u201d<\/p>\n

As is probably evident, \u201cSnow Fall\u201d was built outside of the Times\u2019 content management system. \u201cBreaking out of that we are able to do a lot more of what you see in terms of the art direction, typograpy and the lay-out,\u201d deputy director of digital design Andrew Kueneman told The Atlantic Wire<\/a>. \u201cWe don\u2019t have the luxury of doing this type of design typically on the web. Now we just have more options and more tools.\u201d<\/p>\n

In higher ed, we also don\u2019t have the luxury of seeing stories like \u201cSnow Fall\u201d everyday. The Atlantic\u2019s Derek Thompson makes the good point<\/a> that features such as this, due to the sheer number of resources they require in order to come to life, will not become everyday occurrences. As we know, a story is best told in the medium most befitting it. Not every story needs to be blown out six ways to Sunday. \u201cText isn\u2019t broken,\u201d Thompson reminds us, and nor is the single photograph, or the 90-second video, or even the infographic. <\/p>\n

But sometimes, as in the case of the Tunnel Creek avalanche, the story begs for more.<\/p>\n

Takeaways for Higher Ed<\/h2>\n

In higher ed, we\u2019ve got stories to tell, and the web offers a range of creative ways in which to tell them. There is a lot that the world of online journalism can teach us in this regard. So what can we learn from an endeavor as wide in scope as \u201cSnow Fall\u201d?<\/p>\n

1. Don\u2019t Segregate Multimedia<\/h3>\n

As the creators of \u201cSnow Fall\u201d admit, this feature would not have been possible to execute within the nytimes.com CMS. That gave them the freedom to create a unique, contextual storytelling experience. <\/p>\n

An article template on a CMS typically has a slot, or multiple slots, in which you can plop a photo, a video, or another multimedia element. <\/p>\n

The challenge that \u201cSnow Fall\u201d presents to us is to find a way to more smartly integrate and highlight multimedia content\u2014not as an element shunted into a slot in a template, but an element that can succeed and enlighten in narrative context. This goes beyond technology in thinking through how different elements comprising a news story\u2014text, video, imagery, graphics\u2014complement one another and support the narrative.<\/p>\n

Even beyond sophisticated CMS evolution, we can find ways to more smartly introduce value to content contextually within our stories, whether it\u2019s a hyperlink, a photo with a caption, a video that launched in a lightbox, a blockquote, or a callout. Remember: you tell the story, not your CMS and not your templates.<\/p>\n

Some good examples of this already being done come from the alumni magazine world, specifically Boston University\u2019s \u201cBostonia\u201d<\/a> and the University of Missouri\u2019s \u201cIllumination.\u201d<\/a> (Thanks to Cameron Pegg of Griffith University in Australia, who referenced these examples in his Prezi about alumni magazines on the web<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

2. Take a Holistic Approach to Storytelling<\/h3>\n

We talk about this a lot in terms of web development, but we would be well served by applying the same approach to the way we tell stories. As Poynter noted<\/a>, \u201cTo tell a story seamlessly with text and multimedia, those elements have to actually fit into the same narrative flow. That means lots of coordination, rather than just dumping a finished article on the graphics desk.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n
\u201cSnow Fall\u201d only succeeded because there was a blended team that worked together to tell the story in the most befitting fashion.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cSnow Fall\u201d only succeeded because there was a blended team that worked together to tell the story in the most befitting fashion. That required sharing draft versions of stories with designers and videographers, having multimedia producers and developers there during story brainstorming discussions, and ultimately realizing that the story\u2019s success belonged to all of them equally. Developers were not less important than writers, or more important than videographers, and so on.<\/p>\n

In higher ed, we have these resources. We have designers, developers, writers, photographers and videographers. The challenge, as always, is to find and foster opportunities for these people to work together and recognize the value that each brings to the table. We\u2019re not always used to doing this. But to create compelling online storytelling experiences\u2014heck, even to improve our events calendar interface or design a better email newsletter\u2014we have to do it more, and better.<\/p>\n

3. Don\u2019t Underestimate Infographics<\/h3>\n

I\u2019ve said it<\/a> before<\/a> and I\u2019ll say it again. There is tremendous untapped potential for infographics in higher ed, when done appropriately. Many of the stunning visual features in \u201cSnow Fall\u201d are, essentially, infographics. Granted, newspapers have been doing infographics well and frequently for decades\u2014this is simply an evolution in execution. <\/p>\n

But most higher ed institutions have graphic designers at their disposal. And if we look around, we\u2019ll see that we are sitting on a gold mine of data. Bringing these two together in our stories can yield powerful and engaging content.<\/p>\n

4. Let the Story Lead the Way<\/h3>\n

\u201cSnow Fall\u201d became \u201cSnow Fall\u201d because the richness of the story\u2014the science behind avalanches, the details of what happened at Tunnel Creek, the heart-wrenching stories of loss and terror from those affected\u2014demanded it. Other stories might demand significantly less.<\/p>\n

We should beware getting into a rut with how we approach stories. By giving a story the treatment it deserves, we will better serve both our audiences and our mission. We will also create opportunities to use editorial resources more intelligently, whether it means not throwing the kitchen sink at a story that doesn\u2019t warrant it or going all out to give a compelling story its due. That will also help us as creative professionals, whether it means presenting a challenge or giving us a break.<\/p>\n

Your Take<\/h2>\n

What do you think? Should higher ed pursue storytelling at the level of \u201cSnow Fall\u201d? When might that be called for? How can we best bring our resources to tackle such a project? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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