megheckman

May 14, 2013May 14, 2013

Welcome to summer tech camp

For the next couple of months, I’ll be leading digital storytelling workshops at Northeastern University’s journalism school. We’re calling them tech camps because a.) it’s summer; and b.) learning new skills is always easier if it’s fun. (It also leaves open the possibility of commandeering the microwaves in the student union to make s’mores.)

The first workshop, which meets this afternoon, is focused on ThingLink, a web-based tool that allows users to to turn photos into interactive hubs. In a shameless genuflection to Northeastern’s mascot, here’s one for people considering adopting a Husky puppy. The portrait of the dog forms the backdrop, and each button — or “tag” in ThingLink lingo — leads to more information. ThingLink images can be embedded in other websites or shared on social media platforms. (It doesn’t seem to work on WordPress, though, so you’ll have to click here to see my inaugural ThingLink project.)

Puppies and food pictures aside, journalists around the world are already using ThingLink to tell serious stories. Here’s how one German paper used it to give readers more information about the iconic Situation Room photo on the night of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. The Washington Post turned a static map of Syria into a media rich explainer, and Forbes made an already information-packed graphic even more useful to online readers.

This type of storytelling isn’t new, but ThingLink makes it accessible to newsrooms with limited technical resources. It could be especially useful for web editors tasked with making lovely print graphics suitable for digital readers.

Users can link to any website, but ThinkLink has special display features for YouTube, Instagram, SoundCloud, Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia and dozens of other sources.

There’s also a social component to ThingLink, which has a community structure similar to Twitter. It looks like some newspapers are using ThingLink accounts to promote their content by creating a quasi e-edition based on an image of the day’s front page. Here’s one example from the Patriot-News and another from USA Today.

ThingLink plans to release a mobile app sometime soon. In April, Washington Post reporters were allowed to test it at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April. How else might journalists use a mobile version of ThingLink?

May 13, 2013May 13, 2013

Not surprising, but still depressing

Here’s something to file under “discouraging:” A collection of charts from Media Matters showing that cable news is overwhelmingly white and male.

Of the networks surveyed, MSNBC was the most likely to feature female guests during the month of April — but they were still outnumbered by men two-to-one. MSNBC was also the most racially diverse, which isn’t saying much considering that 73 percent of its guests were white.

The results are even more depressing when viewed in the context of national demographics:

While white men enjoyed representation on cable that was nearly double that of their representation in the U.S. population, white women, who represent 32 percent of the population, were only 21 percent of guests on cable. Non-white women fared even worse. While they make up 19 percent of the population, they were only 8 percent of all guests on cable. Non-white men were also underrepresented; only 13 percent of guests on cable were non-white men while they make up 18 percent of the population.

Also interesting: The gender balance didn’t shift much when the host was female. This differs from a study by the 4th Estate Project that found female reporters working for National Public Radio were more likely to interview female sources.

April 24, 2013May 3, 2013

A break from our regular programming…

For the last several months, I’ve spent many hours watching the fine examples of video journalism available here, here and here. I’ve also been working on a few projects of my own, including this one. It’s a fun little feature about a trend called slacklining. For those of you who care about gear, I used a Nikon D5100 with a stock lens and a Zoom H1 recorder with a wind sock. I produced the piece with FinalCut Pro X.

Speaking of breaks, I’m taking a bit of time off from blogging to catch up on a few other projects. See you in early May.