August 17th, 2008 | Uncategorized |
The confrontational multimedia presentation of ‘Conflict in Crayon’ screamed heartache. This designed journalist story enhanced by significantly graphic displays and depiction of war was further enhanced by the nature in which the children were depicted. This war ravaged country, didn’t need the use of words to tell the story, and the old adage ‘a picture tells a thousand words’ certainly applied.
The extremely harsh imagery, but refreshing from a journalistic viewpoint, used the break from a conventional style of journalism into visual story telling said more words than even Shakespeare in his infinite wisdom could describe.
Whist ever spoken word did nothing for overall value of the multimedia journalistic story; imagery completely stole the show, and in many ways undermines the pure notion of the written word. Keeping to a visual consistency was the basis of the story the children’s drawings. Nothing is as scary as seeing the visions of young children depicted through what they draw. Blood, violence, terror……..war. This story caught exactly what it is that haunts these children’s minds, war.
Suddenly heartache was the only emotion that you could feel; therefore possibilities for adding to the emotions could have been could be the sounds of war. The hurt in your eyes would have matched the hurt in your ears.
August 9th, 2008 | Uncategorized |
‘Soundslides’ is the latest addition to online content for news websites. Building on the concept of slideshows, ‘Soundslides’ adds audio to the visual experience, enhancing the way in which a message is conveyed.
Developed in the United States in late 2005, audio slideshows are beginning to takeoff as yet another addition to the multimedia world. Audio slideshows provide news websites another medium to report news and major events and allows for the development of the story in a non linear way.
The ‘Soundslides’ program is incredibly simple to use, requiring only basic instruction. Once photos and audio are saved in the correct formats (jpeg and mp3) the user simply uploads the content and the audio slideshow is ready in a matter of seconds.
This speed and efficiency allows content to be generated by journalists (who may not be comfortable with other software) within a rapid turnaround with the audio visual experience uploaded within minutes of the story coming to hand.
Where soundslides is most versatile is for setting the tone and atmosphere of a story. The right audio and pictures combined provides a compelling experience for the user who will receive a greater feel and understanding for the story.
Related links:
www.soundslides.com
http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=7-7899-8616
August 2nd, 2008 | Uncategorized |
The i-Mate Jasjam enables reporters to file stories wirelessly while on the go. The $1300-a-piece MoJo (mobile journalism) tool captures stills, video, and audio and can be used to rapidly file content to the editiorial team in the newsroom.
The Jasjam will empower newspaper journalists to stay ahead of the competition, to lead the race for reporting a breaking story before their radio and television reporter counterparts do. Still – and thankfully – the Jasjam is not intended to replace staff, or photojournalists for that matter. “If you want a terrific image, you still need a photographer taking pictures ”, says Mike van Niekerk, Fairfax’s online editor-in-chief.
The Jasjam’s real value is in helping reporters capture more breaking news and making this news available to the public immediately, in a variety of formats. Simply providing these devices to reporters helps them think in “platform-agnostic terms”.
The Jasjam will be the future for journalists. Eventually, reporters will file their story, in a variety of media. Editors sitting at the central hub will instantly receive it in the queue, and then dispatch it to the medium they deem appropriate. A few minutes later, the story will be online, complete with stills. Fifteen minutes later, the text will be updated with new information and briefly edited video with complement coverage.
Related links:
http://www.imate.com/showProducts.aspx
http://www.editorsweblog.org/analysis/2007/09/fairfax_trains_all_reporters_t.php
