20 Apr 08 Today’s Interactive Feature: ‘How the Pentagon Spread Its Message’ (NYT)

The New York Times has a pretty hard-hitting article today by David Barstow about how the Pentagon and the Bush administration used military analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime performance.

Politics aside, the interactive feature included with the story really brings what could be a confusing and convoluted story and turns it into a coherent narrative. Using a combination of stock video from media outlets, animated graphics and an audio narrative, the story is told in a short, three-act structure. They almost follow a movie’s three-act structure, an impressive feat in just 12 minutes of content. Though it does bog down in the middle (they needed a love interest or something), it does keep you engaged and you want to watch all three pieces.

Also of note is the ‘Document Archive’ item at the bottom. It’s self-explanatory but it is a nice addition to the story, especially the copies of the memos and transcripts the article references. All are viewable in the Flash window or you can download them as PDFs.

An impressive package all around.

Now, a bit of a disclaimer. I’m going to try and stray away from the big three (or four) papers when looking at these interactive features from now on. It’s no surprise that the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today and LA Times can churn out great interactive packages when they have a lot more resources than most. So, in the future, I’m going to try and be a little more intrepid and seek out features that smaller and lesser known news organizations are doing. Sometimes the best stuff comes out of where you would least expect it.

CREDITS: David Barstow, Gabriel Dance, Michele Monteleone, Amy O’Leary/The New York Times

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Tags: Interactive, journalism, new media

14 Apr 08 Quote of the Day: Christopher Hitchens

In response to the Pope Benedict XVI’s first visit the United States:

If Ratzinger is not asked at every stop he makes, and in level yet firm tones, why he and the Vatican continue to shelter Cardinal Law, our profession will have shamed and disgraced itself. We already know that the Pope is a Roman Catholic. What we need to hear is his reason for giving sinecure and asylum to the man who organized and excused the rape and torture of tens of thousands of American children. And then, when he has given his first answer, we need to hear how he answers all the supplementary questions.

This is from the Washington Post’s ongoing “interactive” feature about the state Catholicism, On Faith. Personally, I think they should have gone with a jazzier title, ‘Catholicism WOW!’ (tip: Dogma), or perhaps something more politically oriented, ‘Pope Watch 2008′.

The reason I put the word interactive in quotes is because, though touted as such, there isn’t much interaction beyond a normal story gallery. Right now it is mostly just print stories dressed up with graphics and a powder blue color scheme and a single video. I assume they are going to add more during the Pope’s visit, but they should have started it off with a bang. Perhaps an audio slideshow of Benedict’s history or even of Catholicism.

The Washington Post has the resources to do a lot more (and win Pulitzer’s). We’ll have to see how they play this out.

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Tags: Interactive, journalism, quotes, religion