Multimedia

Web sites use multimedia to better tell a story. In many cases, it works well. In some, it deters from the main objective of the story. Here are some reviews, using Mindy McAdams Chapter 2 advice.

Tornadoes Injure Hundreds in Virginia
This article, featured on AOL news includes the written article and also uses two slide shows of photos from a tornado and the ruins. It also has a video of the tornado. This is everything one could ask for when it comes to reporting a story. The slides change easily, and the multimedia is easy for a user to navigate. One criticism, however, is the way the page is laid out. I understand the ads on the side are necessary to pay for the site, but they take up a lot of space. The story begins with the article, then a slide show interrupts it. Then there's more article text, then another slide show. Then after more text, there's video. The user has to scroll down pretty far to get to the video, and because it's an interesting piece of multimedia, it should be easier to access. Also, the placement of the multimedia detracts from the article.

Madonnarama
I love Madonna, so I appreciated this article and the multimedia that went along with it. It was interesting because she hasn't been around in the media for a while, and she's making yet another comeback. Vanity Fair does a great job with multimedia as the magazine makes use of its photos. The article reads thoroughly with one photo in the middle. It doesn't detract from the article. It also gives a small photo that serves as an info box to bring the user to a slide show of Madonna photos from the 1980s to the present. The slide show itself is a great work of multimedia. The photos fade in and out well - there are many photos, and it shows a history of Madonna. Also, when the user brings the arrow to the side of the photo, the screen simulates a turning page. That is a really neat use of interactivity.

Time.com Multimedia Page
Time.com has a specific multimedia tab from its home page. From it, one can access great and interesting multimedia that, by themselves, serve as journalism.
One in particular, an interactive graphic on dictators, especially shows that point. This graphic shows where dictators go when they are in exile. When the user clicks on an X on the map, the rollover image shows a picture of the dictator, some information on him and an arrow that shows where he started as a dictator and points to where he moved to later. This type of multimedia takes research, and I like that it can stand alone as a piece of journalism.