Journalism.co.uk Editors' Blog » The Washington Post

Reuters using Apture for multimedia linking

Laura Oliver — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:44:22 +0000

Last year BBC News online trialled technology from Apture, which created pop-up windows to wikipedia pages, youtube and relevant articles from certain hyperlinks.

Now Reuters is using the the feature – predominantly on its blogs – to do the same, linking to images, maps, Twitter updates, videos and relevant articles.

The service ‘helps Reuters.com enhance its content with intuitive links to related information available on the Web, without directing reader traffic away from Reuters.com’, says a release from Apture.

You can see it in the screengrab below or take a look at Apture in aciton on the Reuters Fan Fare blog.

The Beeb ended its Apture trial – despite positive feedback – but with the Washington Post and Reuters using it, let’s see what happens.

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Obama’s first 100 days: how the web is covering it

Laura Oliver — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:08:52 +0000

Some great multimedia coverage as US President Barack Obama completes his first 100 days in power.

The Washington Post has set up a ’special package’ to mark the day – complete with videos, more than 300 photos arranged by topic (see below) and an interactive timeline of the period – with symbols marking the days key legislation was introduced.

(The Post has used Daylife previously to organise its photos – for example during the Olympics last year – so I’m wondering whether that’s the case here too.)

Similarly, the LA Times has its own 100 days site with the emphasis on readers’ views. The Times asked commuters for their video thoughts on Obama’s progress so far.

What I like in particular about this effort is the ability to filter videos by policy and the interactive calendar that dominates the top of the page – click on any date from the 100 for more information.

It’s a very clean layout with a nice feed of LA Times’ related articles too.

The White House is getting in on the act too with its own Flickr group of images depicting the start of the presidency.

Any more good examples of coverage?

UPDATE April 30:

Am reliably informed by Daylife that they’re not behind the Times’ photos – it’s being done internally – but their technology has had a hand in the Wall Street Journal’s coverage, which pulls together video, relevant articles, images and create interactive graphics.

Also enjoyed Slate highlighting the 100 days on Obama’s Facebook feed.

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WaPo wiki site to focus on US politicians and government officials

Laura Oliver — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 15:34:45 +0000

The Washington Post has launched a new beta site Whorunsgov.com to build profiles of US politicians, law makers and government officials using a specially created Post editorial team.

The site and its news blog will also feature contributions from external experts, a release from the paper said, and will be expanded into a moderated wiki later this year.

At this stage users will be encouraged to edit and add to profiles on the site with submissions moderated by the editorial team.

Interactivity – in particular allowing users to discuss profiles on the site – is a key part of the project:

“This is the first phase of a new venture to create a uniquely collaborative and rich information resource that demystifies the individuals behind Washington’s policy-making process,” said Rachel Van Dongen, editor of WhoRunsGov.com, in the release, adding that the site is intended as a free-for-all resource.

Those featured on the site will also grow to include think tank members and state officials.

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EditorsWeblog: Washington Post to share content with Baltimore Sun

Judith Townend — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:01:02 +0000

The Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun announced in December that they will begin sharing content including stories, photos and news, the Editors Weblog reports.

WashingtonCityPaper.com: ‘An advance copy of the Washington Post’s reorganization plan’

Judith Townend — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:15:32 +0000

The WashingtonCityPaper shares 'an advance copy of the Washington Post's reorganization plan'. The site, 'forever a friend to local media institutions', has announced it is 'hereby stepping in and taking charge'. "We've taken the time to interview key media strategists, examine the Post’s assets, and knit together a strategic plan for the ages. "It's all written up in corporatese, sans copyright, so the Post can just cut, paste, send to ALL, and gauge the reaction on FishBowlDC. "It’s even in memo format, and it comes with 'off the record' boxes that will help Post employees sort through the mumbo-jumbo." Read, and enjoy.

Election traffic: WashingtonPost sees biggest jump but CNN leads

Judith Townend — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 15:37:40 +0000

Beet TV’s Andy Plesser, writes that the Washington Post was long a pioneer in online content,

“[and] … registered the biggest percentage jump on Election Day, compared to the previous Tuesday, Nielsen Online reported last night. Although far from the newly crowned traffic leader, CNN.com, the Post jumped 113 percent to 2.3 million unique visitors”

So, CNN were the real winners of the day with a 400 per cent traffic spike for the site.

Here, CNN anchor and special correspondent Soledad O’Brien speaks to Beet TV about reporting from the exit polls, and the changes she has witnessed in web reporting over the past 12 years.

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CUNY: Innovative web video journalism panel

Laura Oliver — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 22:54:47 +0000

City University of New York (CUNY) is hosting a panel on innovative web journalism, which we are going to attempt to stream below. It kicks off at 6pm (EST). It can now be viewed by following this link here.

Participating in the discussion of video storytelling online are:

Travis Fox, Emmy-award winning video journalist from The Washington Post

Rachel Sterne, founder and CEO of GroundReport, a citizen journalism platform at GroundReport.com

Benjamin Wagner, vice president of MTV News

Daniel Greenberg, director of production at WNET

Thanks to CUNY professor Sandeep Junnarkar for the link to the live coverage.

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Mapping: BBC reports live event with map tools; WaPo plots Travis Fox

Laura Oliver — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:42:13 +0000

Mapperz blog is claiming a BBC first, as the corporation used a series of mapping tools to cover today’s parade in London of Britain’s Beijing Olympics team.

The interactive map featured Twitter updates from BBC sport journalists Tom Fordyce and Ollie Williams and was capable of showing photos submitted by spectators (though it appears only one has been uploaded at time of writing).

It links to a Flickr group of images from the parade, live text updates on the BBC website and a full news and video report on the event.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post is plotting the progress of Travis Fox, as the video producer makes a journey across the states reporting on how the economic downturn is affecting citizens.

Fox’s route is shown with markers indicating video posts and photos, which are also included in his blog reports below the map.

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Little will be keynote speaker at the World Digital Publishing Conference

Judith Townend — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:25:42 +0000

And while we’re on the theme of digital conferences in Amsterdam, news comes that the Guardian News & Media’s special adviser, Caroline Little, will be the keynote speaker at the annual World Digital Publishing Conference & Expo, to be held October 15-16.

Little was previously behind the Washington Post and Newsweek Interactive’s growth online, as their chief executive officer and publisher. She now advises the Guardian as it expands its online presence in the US.

Other speakers at the conference will include Ilicco Elia, head of mobile Europe for Thomson Reuters, Gary Clarke, director of business development for Amazon Kindle, and Frédéric Sitterlé, new media director for Le Figaro in France.

Organisers say that there are still places available at the conference.

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Editor&Publisher (via AP): Washington Post’s new online political section links to rival newspapers

Laura Oliver — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 11:52:21 +0000

The Washington Post has launched a new web section that links readers to the best of political coverage, including that of their rivals.