08/03/2018 Multimedia Journalism - Knight Science Journalism @MIT

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Multimedia Journalism
Book Ideas Wanted: A Visit From MIT
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Power On! Help for Puerto Rico, With

a Hand From KSJ Multimedia journalism combines varying forms of story-telling – sound, text, video, graphics
The Envelope, Please: Teresa Carr Is an (including infographics), and images – to tell a journalistic story in a compelling manner. It takes
Ellie Finalist advantage of digital tools to bring journalism to life in new ways. It’s one of the most rapidly
This Year’s Fellows: Joshua Hatch expanding – and many say exciting – new developments in the eld.

This story by the French publication Rue 89 on the Rebuilding of Haiti

KSJ on the Web after the devastating 2010 earthquake offers a textbook illustration of
   that point. Rather than simply listing the dif culties in different
developmental policies, the story takes the reader through an
interactive quiz in which he or she learns rsthand that each decision
Contact Us leads to unintended consequences. The story is immersive in many
KSJ@MIT ways: audio recordings of the streetscape – a tap tap engine, people
77 Massachusetts Ave murmuring – along with vivid photography, that gives the reader a
Cambridge, MA 02139 sense of being there. The authors place the words “During the wet
1-617-452-3513 season, though, it is more of a balancing act, particularly when
[email protected] crossing the ravines that drain rain water and waste,” over an image of
a woman walking on a precarious elevated path, shot at an angle
The New York where the path dominates, to illustrate the situation’s risk.
Search … Times’ “Snowfall”
feature introduced
Search ambitious
multimedia
journalism to a new
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and wider While the blending of different forms of media with storytelling has
audience. existed for a while on the web,  the 2012 New York Times launch of
Snowfall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek is often credited for
 
catapulting the status of multimedia journalism forward. The Pulitzer-
prize winning story, a multi-chapter “series” about the 2012 Tunnel
Creek Avalanche in Washington State by reporter John Branch, weaves
together the component parts – video, photos, graphics – into a holistic story form of its own
rather than leaving them to serve, as often occurred previously, as merely extras attached to text.

Because multimedia is the melding of several different kinds of media which can be dif cult for a
single person to master, multimedia journalists often work in teams. But increasingly, reporters
from one eld of journalism are seeking to develop cross-disciplinary skills: print journalists are
learning photography; photographers are learning digital. Similarly, employers are learning to
value employees with multiple skills. For those seeking some introduction to the eld and the
resources available, the following guide may prove useful.

SO YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MULTIMEDIA JOURNALISM?

Journalism programs on both the undergraduate and graduate levels are overhauling their
curricula to be more re ective of this changing landscape – even print journalists can expect to be
trained on photography, video and audio. But maybe you’re already a journalist, simply looking to
expand your skill set. Or maybe you’re thinking of transitioning into journalism but you don’t have
the time to pursue a full-time degree program. Either way you prefer to go it alone.

Luckily, there are tools available online to help you.

Searchlights and Sunglasses: Field Notes from the Digital Age of Journalism  by Eric Newton.
This multimedia website leads readers into the nuances of what journalism means in the digital
age.

Introduction to Multimedia Journalism, a clear, multimedia overview of multimedia

journalism by Storify
Reporter’s Guide to Multimedia Pro ciency by Mindy McAdams. This 2009 guide is a bit
dated, but it still provides a sound overview of the basics. Be aware, though, that some of the
technical tools have changed.

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An Introduction to Multimedia Reporting and the Future of Journalism, International

Journalism Network explains the evolving role of journalists away from a single media towards
many. It’s part of a series that includes The Fundamentals of Multimedia Storytelling: Multi-
tasking and Teamwork and Planning a Multimedia Report which provide compelling follow ups.

Lessons From the Field: Multimedia Journalism – How To Produce Visual and Audio Elements
for a Story

Eight Tips for Multimedia Journalists IJNet’s advice from multi-platform reporter Karla
Leal about what makes a good multimedia journalist.

8 Very Basic Tips for Multimedia Journalists, Chicago Tribune’s straightforward guide on
multimedia journalism with a photography emphasis.

Picking the Right Media for the Story helps multimedia reporters navigate one of the
toughest decisions: what media is best for telling a particular story.

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SO YOU’D RATHER READ A BOOK THAN A WEBSITE?

We recommend these books on multimedia journalism, photojournalism, audio journalism, and
videography as starter resources.

Feature and Narrative Storytelling for Multimedia Journalists, by Duy Linh Tu

The Principles of Multimedia Journalism: Packaging Digital News, by Richard Hernandez,

Jeremy Rue

Aim for the Heart: Write, Shoot, Report and Produce for TV and Multimedia by Al Tompkins
Photojournalism: The Professionals’ Approach by Kenneth Kobre

Journalism Next: A Practical Guide to Digital Reporting and Publishing by Mark Briggs
Advancing the Story: Broadcast Journalism in a Multimedia World by Debora Rae, Halpern
Wenger and Deborah Potter
Sound Reporting: The NPR Guide to Audio Journalism and Production by Jonathan Kern

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SO YOU WANT TO LEARN SOME MORE TOOLS OF THE TRADE?

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General Multimedia Journalism

2015 Digital Reporting Toolkit from Medium

UC Berkeley Digital Multimedia Journalism Resource and Tutorials

Photojournalism

Supporting a story with pictures

Photo Tips for Radio Producers by Transom.org
Ethical Issues for Photojournalism by the Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of
Wisconsin
Enhanced Reality: Exploring the Boundaries of Photo Editing by Die Spiegel

Basic Photography for Journalists, a free short course on digital and print photography
basics.

Tips for journalists shooting photos: rookie mistakes, pros and cons by IJNET

Video

What Journalists Need to Know About Interviewing for Video from Poynter
8 Ways to Shoot Video Like a Pro from Lifehacker

RenderForest offers a selection of free tools to help journalists and others create short
videos and animations.

Graphics

Beyond Infographics, 12 Ways to Visualize Data from the University of Berkeley School of
Journalism.

The Data Visualization Catalog, provides a visual overview of the types of data visualizations
accessible to journalists.
How to Organize Your Data for Various Graphs and Charts , a basic overview on how to
develop graphs and other data visualizations. For more on data science, check out our data
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journalism

Audio

BBC Smartphone Journalism: Audio, how to use your smart phone to record broadcast
quality audio.

BBC Academy: Audio recording, general guide on how to record radio quality for audio
SoundCloud basics for journalists by IJNET
10 tips for using audio more effectively in multimedia stories by Poynter
The NPR Guide to Sound Recording, an excerpt from the book often designed as a
comprehensive guide to radio reporting.

SO YOU WANT SOME MULTIMEDIA TOOLS?

Atavist,  a platform designed to make it easier to tell and share multimedia stories. Writers
can use it to sell stories directly to visitors.
Audio Hijack, allows you to record media from like iTunes and Skype directly from your
computers soundcard.
Canva, helps to develop presentations, social media graphics easily that still look
professional.

Gimp, or the GNU Image Manipulation Program is free software that facilitates photo
retouching, image composition and authoring.
Google Fusion tables, helps to gather, share and visualize data.
Google Media Tools, connects a number of Google tools – Youtube, Google Maps, fusion
tables etc.
PicMonkey, free online photo editing software
Piktochart, helps to make infographics

Scratch, an animation platform geared towards elementary through high school aged
children, but helpful for those learning animation at any age.
Soundcloud, social sound platform where people can share sounds – music, reporting, etc –
anywhere.
Storify, a way of curating web information.
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ThingLink, a media platform that weaves together audio and photography with text.
Vimeo, a video sharing platform useful for embedding videos into websites

Zentrick, an interactive video tool

SO YOU WANT TO MEET OTHER MULTIMEDIA JOURNALISTS?

There’s no substitute for meeting similarly oriented reporters and editors in person, and
journalism conferences are the perfect place to make that happen. Unfortunately, likely due to
multimedia journalism’s cross-platform perspective the number of conferences speci cally
focused on multimedia journalism is scarce. However, a number of journalism conferences do
speci cally call out multimedia journalism in award categories and interests as a distinct category.
Here are some of them:

Journalism Interactive: the conference on Journalism Education and Digital Media (Geared
more towards educators of Multimedia Journalism)
Online News Association [ONA] Conference

Excellence in Journalism Conference (A joint conference between the Society of Professional

Journalists and the Radio Television Digital News Association)

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SO YOU’RE LOOKING FOR EXAMPLES OF STRONG MULTIMEDIA SCIENCE

JOURNALISM?
Firestorm, using the photo of the Holmes family hiding from a violent bush re in Tasmania
that was shared around the world as a starting point, the Guardian takes us inside a new breed
of impossible to ght bush re.
Hollow Documentary, an interactive documentary detailing the life of one West Virginia coal
town.
Losing Ground, this Pro Publica article investigates Louisiana’s dwindling coast line and the
risk it poses to the regions gas and oil production, its shrimping industry, and its people.
Snowfall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek, This 2012 New York Times article arguably ushered
in modern multimedia journalism, displaying the strength of the format and its possibilities.

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The Broken Hip: A Moment that Changes Everything, an interactive story on scienti c
advances on preventing falls in older adults and helping them heal faster when they do fall.
The Science Studio collects strong multimedia science stories on the web.
The Serengeti Lion: Life on the Plains with the Vumbi Pride, this National Geographic
interactive piece documents the life of African lions on the Serengeti.
Thin Ice: Exploring Mount Hood’s Glacier Caves, OPB (Oregon’s Public Broadcasting
Company) goes deep inside what may the largest system of glacial caves in the US outside of
Alaska.
Undrinkable, this Texas Tribune multimedia article looks at how many people along the
Texas-Mexico border still live without running water.

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SO YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A SHORT COURSE?

Multimedia journalism short courses are an excellent way of expanding your skillset without the
commitment and expense of a full-time graduate program. They’re not a substitute for indepth
education, of course, but they can provide you with a springboard to learn and experiment with
the tools and tricks of the multimedia journalism trade.

NYU Multimedia Journalism Workshops

UC Berkeley Multimedia Storytelling Institute

Thomson Reuters offers a number of short courses on multimedia journalism on a rotating
basis at locations worldwide.
SUNY Plattsburgh Certi cate in Multimedia Journalism is a certi cate program for working
journalists who want to expand their credentials.

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