I’m taking a class this semester called Multimedia Planning and Design, which is being taught for the first time at the Missouri School of Journalism. Until now, it seems my coursework has alternatively emphasized storytelling over skills, or vice versa, and I’m hoping this will be the thread that finally ties those two things together. You can follow what we’re doing on the class blog, where I’ll be jumping in periodically to provide multimedia critiques.
We started the semester by talking about The Las Vegas Sun, a Nevada newspaper known for its innovative use of multimedia. Their epic history project, which explores the city’s growth and development since the 1930s, took nine months to complete. My grandmas are both big gamblers, so the part I found most interesting was the interactive map that chronicles decade-by-decade changes on the Strip. After class, I went back in time with the map, imagining how Las Vegas must have looked on my grandmas’ early trips. My first and only trip to Vegas was for my great-grandmother’s 80th birthday in 1996, before the construction of the magnificent Bellagio hotel. I remember it opening because my parents accompanied my grandparents to Vegas that year, and my mother couldn’t stop gushing about the splendor, the lights, the shows.
As a convergence undergrad, my professors used to always ask us if our grand multimedia plans served a purpose, or whether they were just flashy for flashy’s sake. While the staff of the Sun certainly pulled out all the stops (the lights on the “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign actually flash upon mouseover), their project serves a purpose, too. I first found it a few months after it launched in 2008, yet I wasted a good hour playing with the map when I rediscovered it today. These sorts of projects are painstaking but timeless undertakings with long shelf lives, classic “evergreen” stories that maintain a high level of interest even years after they are first published.
It’s no secret that I usually shy away from tackling multimedia in the day-turn news environment, mostly because it takes me twice as long to shoot a 60-second video as it does to write a 10-inch story. If both convey the exact same message, that’s not a good use of anyone’s time. Yet I’m a wholehearted supporter in investing in these long-term internet endeavors. That’s because if you truly invest the time and effort, you create a product that transcends journalism, perhaps one that can be easily updated and adapted as a thoroughly engaging teaching mechanism. Imagine learning the history of your home state with an interactive map that you got to play with until you’d discovered all its secrets. I suddenly want to be in fourth grade again.
As the use of multimedia becomes more widespread, I think we’ll find that while journalists are excellently positioned to take the lead in its innovative use, other fields and industries will find it just as useful for presenting their messages and ideas.