chapter

Tom Huang

n a flight from Dallas to Chicago, I caught a giimpse of the futureof story'lelling. A thin, gray-haired rnu,i trrr".d from his window

to talk to a young mother. She was holding a 2-year-old, in her lap. From myaisle seat, I could hear the rvvo strangers make small talk about raising children.

The man took out his iphone. He tapped on rhe device's screen uid ,ho*.dth.e mother a few short video clips that he had shot. ln one, his granddaughter,rvho.was probably 4 or 5 years old, searched a wooded area for-Easter eg!s. tnanother, the girl was learning a tumbling routine as part of her gymnastics"leam.

The 2-year-old boy watched the videos, mesmerized. S-oon enough, hemoved to the grandfathert lap. As the flight began its crescent, the two of thempeered out the window at the world below.

sharing something important about themserves, somlthing fuiny or sad orpoignant, through words. images and video on their digitir devices. on thesurface, there was nothing extraordinary about that -o*".nt.

And yet, maybe there was.

, A.1 somlone -who

is passionate about teliing stories, I ve been thinkingabout how digital innovation is transforming the craft of storytelling. As areteran journalist, I could present a grlm knel-lerk reaction. "The traditionalstory will soon be deadl' I could say.

. (For.this essay, I will rely on the definit ion of storythat narrative journalistJon Franklin proposed in his classic writing for Srory: 'A story consists ol a;equence of actions that occur when a syripathetlc'charactei *.oun,.r, ,;omplicat ing situation that he confronts,,{a,"ir.r:if

""Young people aren't interested in reading long, linear stories any more,'Imight say. "Not with their short attention sp"urrr, urra especially not on theirphonesi' But I suspect that the transformation of storltelli*g will b. -or.;omplicated and more surprising than that.

. I believe that the traditional story will endure, and even thrive. in theJigital realm, as it has in every medium we human beings have created to sharenformation and experience, in books, .ong., fl.yr, ;i;,;r;;;;.;;, ;;,;,

l+o TOM HUANG

TV and now digitai platforms. Digital innovation-and advances in mobiletechnology, in particuiar-will reinforce the values of storltelling.

At the same time, digital innovation will bring profound changes and addnew presslrres to those values. fournalists will have to adapt to these changes

and pressures-and take a proactive role in sparking more innovation-if theyhope to help their news organizations survive.

So far, though, most news organizations have been slow to embrace thatchange. As Bill Adair, the creator of the Tampa Bay Times'PolitiFact, has argued:

Editors and reporters havent stopped to invent new forms of storytelling-oreven consider how they might do things differently on the Web and mobiledevices. Their automatic response is to do the same basic thing they've always

done: "Go write a news story about that."2

In this chapter, I will explore how digital innovation is enhancing story-telling in three fundamental ways:

. It is introducing new story forms that break out of the traditional narra-tive structure-in some cases, allowing readers to guide the storl.tellingthemselves.

. It is expanding the group of people who can be storytellers-andbroadening their reach.

. It is increasing the access people have to in-depth stories and-creatingdifferent access points for different demographic groups.

At the same time, there is an ethical dynamic to al1 this. These changes are

also challenging the traditionai values ofstorytelling, values that support jour-nalism's underlying purpose of creating public understanding. While the iPad

and other digital tablets will make it easier for people to consume stories, andsocial media will make it easier to share them, the advent of new story formsalso could:

Make it harder for readers to find a coherent storyline within a compii-cated event or issue, even as readers may also benefit from readingstories with more contributors and perspectivesMake it easier for those who want to manipulate or deceive the public tointroduce false information or rumors into the publics understandingBreak the audience into fragments, making it more difficult for peopleto find common ground through stories.

THE TRADITIONAL VALUES OF STORYTELLING

Let me start by sharing a story about stories.

I began telling stories when I was 6; I drew primitive comic books. And byprimitive, I mean primitive. The comic books were about the Supers, a team of

Storytelling in the Digital Age

superheroes consisting of some misfit cavemen and cavewomen, some meanteachers I knew, and some stick figures representing other oclclballs I hadalready met in my young life.

If I were to examine these comics now, Id see their underlying meaning:Ti.rey were about the struggle of the Supers to fit into society, *r.n tit. -ytamilys struggle to fit in as immigrants still finding our way in the unitedStates.

You probably have your own story about how you first started telling sto-ries. Your stories might have first appeared in your diary, or in postcards toyour parents, or in essays that your teacher encouraged you to write.

Telli,g stories is how we explain who r,ve are, what we do and why we doit. Sometimes, the very act of storytelling is how we discover something that wedidnt initialiy know about ourselr.es. As foan Didion wrote in Tie white.\lbum, "We tel1 ourselves stories in order to livel'3

Storl'telling is what makes us human. And itt a safe bet that our ability totell stories and learn from them helped us survive those terrifying early days asapes throwing bones into the air a la 2001: A Space Odyssey

. ]ack Hart, a legendary editor who recently retired from The oregonian,believes that human beings are hard-wired for story. "The myriad ,noy, *. ,r..itory to cope with the world make it hard to imagine that narrative isn't part ofour fundamental nature," he wrote in storycraft: The complete GuirJe to writing\arratiy e Nonfiction.a

For more than three decades, Hart, Franklin and other journalists havemade narrative storl'telling an important part of newspapers. They haveargued that this particular kind of news presentation-in which stories are toldrrith characters; a beginning, middle and end; a complication or conflict; anda resolution-engage and enlighten readers in ways that more common newsstory formats, such as the inverted pyramid structure, often do not.

In realms outside journalism, sllccess can <lepend on how well one telis.ind understands narrative. Lawyers know that they must persuade juries with:he stories they tell. The best doctors know they must lisien to their patients'stories to truly understand what's ailing them. The most effective political;ommunicators (think of Abraham Lincoin, Ronald Reagan or Bill clinton)rre often noted for how they tell stories-about their onrn iives and chalienges:hey've had to overcome; about the lives of people who have been affected by:olicies they support or criticize; and about their visions for the country.

Ted Anthony, an Associated Press national writer, recognized the imp.r-:ance of storytelling at the 20i2 political conventions. speechwriter curt smith:xplained to Anthony: "storytelling forms the heart of political rhetoric. RonaldLeagan once told me, if you give someone I0 facts and one story and if the:tory is told well, it's the story that you recalll'5

The traditional values ofstorytelling can be distilled to these three.

clarity: Stories help readers understand and make sense of complex issuesand processes.

142 TOM HUANG

Nuance: Stories provide readers with enough room for nuance and ambi-guity, particularly when ii comes to describing people's emotional 1ives.

Empathy: Stories help readers connect with otl-rers, sometimes those whoare very different from us, by allon'ing us to share our experiences.

In his book Storycraft, Hart summeci it up well:

Story makes sense out of a confusing universe b1, shor.ving us hou'one action

leads to another. It teaches us how to live by discovering hor'r' our fbllou'

human beir-rgs overcome tl're challenges irr their lives. And it helps us discover

the universals that bind us to everlrthitrg around lts.''

DIGITAL STORY FORMS

How is digital technology affecting these val"res?

It rvasnt that long ago rvhen prlnt jor.rrnalists considered photo ess:rys,

explanatory graphics, chunky text and summary boxes to be alternative story

forms. |ournalists used these forms as additionai r'vays to engage reaclers, espe-

cially those who preferred to scan newspapers rather thar-r reiid ir.r-depth.

A ferv newspapers-most notably, USA Today and The Virginian-Pilot-placed a top priority on using these story forms prominently ar.rd consistently.

Even The I'lew York'limes, long known as the Gray Lad,v, begzrn to excel ininformational graphics. Sti11, many journalists considered these story forms to

be value-added items (some might say afterthoughts), not integral to the story-

telling process.

Digital innovation is forcing us to recot.tsider this mind-set. New story

forms (and some not so new) are thriving on digital devices. In this section, Iwill identify several digital story forms: some that harre become stahtarts and

others that have only recently emerged. (No doubt, there are even fresher ones

that are emerging even as I write this.) I will also discuss lvhat storyellingvalues these forms reinforce ar-rd what r.alues they challenge.

lnteractive Graphics

One of the most polverful new stor), forms is the interactive graphic,

which leverages the power of data visualization n'hile giving readers some

control over how they digest information. )or.rrnalists nor'r'have the data visu-

alization tools to tel1 sophisticated stories through interactive graphics. Many

of these "interactives" are strong enough to stand on their own, rather than

merely providing supporting data for a traditional story. A nunlber of outlets

can boast outstanding examples of interactive graphics.

The New York Times l-ras had several outstanding examples of interactive

graphics. Let me highlight one.

In "How Class Worksl' a 2005 l{ew York Times interactil'e graphic abor"rt

the factors that go into class differences, \\re can input data about ourselves,

including our job, income, education and wealth.T we can use these factors toestimate what socioeconomic percentiie we fali into. we can rearn abouthow the population breaks down uy.ir."r"" and income, and we can under-stand the concept of mobility, ,h; ;;;;rr of families from one incomespectrum to another.The multi-comnonent graphic accompanied an I t-day series. but I l.oundthat I couid undersrand,h.;;;'.;;.;.1;,

its own wn r e trr e rch;, :.

;;"pr". ffi{ :H : :lf :ililf.XJ:?,# i:"X.T#ers can discover our own stories within the data. ih";;;;i;.'.'ro.y t.r.abstract and more personal. Even without .".arrg the entire l,{ew york Times,series on ciass, we sti, discover tro* i*po.i*t ones educatior, lurrJ obt.irrirrgan advanced degree) :i, b:, i" a.t.._i'rrir;;,r.. ciass. We also see how ciass

il',?ll..,:l3:',H:ij;.:"' tt. a-.,i*n .,'gJ-,o-.i.r,.s story d"* ;; happen

Edward seger and-jeffrey Heer, two Stanford researchers studying narra_tive visualizarion' exorained what ,h;;;; as rhe dirrerence ber*."n a,author-driven uppror.h ," ri"rr,Ji,rg Jna ,*..ua.r_driven approach. .,Sroriesin text and film typically p....rt

" r.,'"i.*"u in a tightiy controred progres_sion"' they wrote in a 2010 paper for rcrr'-irns. visualization d, c'o*prt*Graphics"'whire tour. through,ri.uuitJauta sim,arly can be organized in alinear sequence' they can arsl u. i"t..*tir.,inviting verification, new ques-. ions, and allernative explanations.

"visualizations," they rvrote, 'hre i,creasingly striking a balance betweenthe two approaches [author-drive" ";;;;;;._driven], providing room for'imited inreractivity within the .o",."ior u ilJre structured narrative. This is, relatively recenl development, rvith most main

-.nline journatra_. u ' 'rvvlr.L,L, lYItlr rrlost malnstream examples coming from

The best interactive graphics are a hybrid ofthe author-driven and reader_i.iven approaches. They.provide introdu.to.y t.rt (or an introductory video)o set up the piece, and then they provicle er,iurrn,o.y text to guide the reader'10ng the way. some arso provide a structure in which the reacler can interact. ith the graphics in a meaningfrl sequence.

These exampres differ r.J- tr.aitionar storytering i, some significant' 'J subtle ways' Most important, they Lypicary don't have a centrar charac_.r. a line of a-ion, or a beginning, "i,aii. ."1 end. Stili, they can have the':me effect as traditionar storytJing fi.;;." provide both craritv and- iance on a complex topic. And, actJdly, ,rr.y.ri-"r,.i"#. oirr.i'j"o .,

=;r.]n." in a conventional text, .rp.;i;ii; on,,oo,.. with large amounts of

Interactive graphics are, however, iess effective in engendering empathy:''m the reader' Traditional stories transp"" .."a.., to other pru..i urri h.lpl,X,i,1%iJf ;:fi:,:,..

of the centrar.r,u.act... rtr possibie tt nt,o_.auy

;* ffi ,: ; ;il ; ::T fl :'; ::I:ffi .'#ili : i n : : il #:i m :: n;

Storytelling in the DigitalAge

Video Storytellingvideo is one of the richest multimedia tools that journalists can use for

stor1telling. From short breaking-news clips captured on smart phones to lon-

ger, more complex documentaries, video has the power to take viewers to a

place, allow them to witness the action, and 1et them listen to people tell their

stories in their own voices.

These digital video story forms are quite different from traditional broad-

cast television stories in that they typicaliy have no correspondent or anchor.

In general, they dont have the same high production values or elaborate sets'

And sometimes they dont even have narration. But they are told in the fashion

of documentaries. video is also a highly accessible form of story'telling: I see

more and more people watching videos on their phones and digital tablets,

especially as captive audiences on airplanes.

One of the most powerful videos that I have watched was produced as part

of "Choosing Thomasl'e a narrative series written by Lee Hancock and photo-

graphe<l by Sonya Hebert for The Dallas Morning News, where I work'

The 2009 series and video (I edited the series, but not the video) followed

a North Texas couple as they learned that their unborn child had Trisomy 13.

The rare genetic disorder meant the baby would not live long after birth. The

Lauxes decided to give birth to Thomas an).way. For them, his life mattered,

even if it would last just a few days. Hebert's combination of photos and video

documented the 5 days that the Lauxes took care of Thomas before he died.

When I watch the 9-minute video, I am immersed in the Lauxes' journey, and

I am still brought to tears. It exemplifies the authenticity and intimacy that the

best journalism has-in anY form.videos like the one on Thomas Laux reinforce the values of traditional sto-

r1.telling, especially when they are produced as minidocumentaries. The "Choos-

ing Thomas" video brings clarity to what it's like to have a baby with Trisomy 13.

It does not gloss over Thomas'birth defects, or the deeply painful moments that

his parents experience. The camera's eye is unflinching as Thomas'health fails.

The video is nuanced: We see the Lauxes' joy and sadness, anger and sense

of humor. And while some viewers may not agree with the Lauxes' decision, they

can at least begin to empathize and understand what it was like to be in the

couple's situation.

Data Centers

Data centers are websites or Web pages that compile sets of information

focused on a certain theme. These sites are t1pically organized so that readers

can access and analyze the data for themselves. These data centers often use a

combination of interactive graphics, maps, stories and photos to tell a larger,

ongoing story.- Homicide Watch D.C. is a weli-known data center, a website that tracks

murder cases in washington, D.c. Launched in 2010, the site is run by journalists

Laura and Chris Amico. The site breaks down each case into pieces of data,

which tells the story of murder through 'briginal reporting, court documents,

Storytelling in the Digital Age

social media, and the help of victims'and suspects,friencls, family, neighborsand others [to cover] every homicide from crime to .orrui.liorr;,itt (See CaseStudy for more discussion of Homicide Watch D.C.)

The washington Post's Neighborhoods site provides comprehensive dataon D.c., virginia and Maryland neighborhoods. The reader can find out theaverage price of homes sold and the average monthly rent in any given neigh-borhood, plus a profile of that neighborhood by demographic, real estate andtransportation data. The reader can also access maps that show the location ofschools, recent crimes, homes sold and homes for sale and for rent.

while readers don't get a traditional story about the neighborhood, theyget_a wide-ranging snapshot of the area in the data. In effect, they are providedrvith the raw data for themselves that journalists would have usecl to composemore traditional stories. They can qLrickly te1l how much it woulcl cost and howsafe it is to live in a neighborhood, where they might send their kids to school,and how long the typical commute is to downtown.

whether it's a washington neighborhood or a murder case, sometimes allreaders want are some quick takeaways based on data. They dont always neeclto read a traditional story. They can gain clarity on a subject with the helpof these sites, which organize and highlight important pieces of data and pres-ent the results in a structured way. In other words, given what they are lookingfor-easy-to-find prices or crime rates-readers may not need the pathos,context, Iinear progression or deeper sense-making that a traditior-rul .to.ycan provide.

But for all their virtues, the data centers also cannot provide sornethingthat traditional stories can. While )rou can study the data of a neighborhood,you might not truly get the feel of the neighborhood unless you read about it.Meanwhile, Homicide watch D.c. draws its nuance and empathy through thereported stories, guest columns and online memorials to the victims-allexamples of traditional stor1,te1ling.

Story Clusters and Streams

Digital technology also challenges one of the most basic components oftraditional daily news presentation-the concept of the daily storv. In tradi-tional news formats, each new development is its own story, and the narrativewritten the day before is disposed of, in the same way that the physicar paperis discarded and each day's paper or newscast is new again. In a digital format,what was produced earlier does not need to disappear, and this opens the wayfor whoie new forms-stories that grow and build, in the same way that awikipedia entry builds on itself rather than starting over. These new forms canbe called story clusters or streams.

one of the best examples of story clusters came from the Living Storiesproject run by the now-defunct Google Labs from December 2009 to February2010. In partnership wirh The washington posl and rhe llew york Times,Google built story clusters around significant ongoing stories such as healthcare reform, global warming and the war in Afghanistan.

Each story cluster included an overview; links to news stories, features and

opinion piecei on the topic; a timeline of events (including stories aligned with

the chronology) and interactive graphics. The stories could also be sorted by

themes, people and multimedia'Accordtng to the Google biog,11 Living Stories, when compared to tradi-

tional news coverage:

trya<lifferentapproachthatplaystocertainuniqueadr,antagesofonlinepublishing.Theyunifl'coverageonasingle'dynamicpagewitl-racor-rsistentURf . th.y o.ganize information by developments in the story' They call your

attention to changes in the story since you last viewed it so you can easily find

thenewmaterial.ThroughasuccinctSummalyofthewholestoryandregtr-larupdates,theyofferadifferentonlineapproachtobalancingtheovetviewwith dePth and context.

Google News has incorporated some of the Living Stories, approach, but as

a story stieam. On significant news stories, the reader can get a stream of related

"real-time' stories and news videos that are updated minute by minute, similar

to a news ticker. The reader can also Iind in-depth stories and opinion pieces

related to the news toPic.

One high-profile sports website, Vox Medias SB Nation' is making promi-

nent use of the story stream concept (they haYe even trademarked the term)' The

sitet streams t1pical1y consist of blog posts surrounding a specific game or race,

as weli as ongoing game-day coverage from sports leagues iike the Nationai Foot-

ball League. Dipping in and out of the stream, the reader can get constant

updates In tn. evotuing story, as well as perspectives from a variety ofbloggers.12

I'm intrigued by Googies Living Stories and SB Nation's Story Streams

because they promote the iJea that a story can act like a living organism: evolv-

ing, expanding and splitting into new stories that take divergent paths' Readers

.ui-... stories'develop over time, and there doesnt have to be just one tradi-

tional story at the end ofthe daY.

The first experiment with Living Stories didnt last, but the virtues of the

experiment continue to suggest themselves. My guess is this is not the last we

huu. ,..,-r of the idea. If a news site embraced the concept in a more fundamen-

tai way, it could test its potential-and its potential audience appeal-in a more

significant way. The driver behind the idea was Marissa Mayer of Google' She

now heads Yahoo. It r,vill be interesting to see if that company begins to exper-

iment with the format in a larger way.

Memes and GlFs

Merriam webster defines a meme as "an idea, behavior, style, or usage that

spreads from person to person r,r,ithin a culturel' In the digital realm, a meme

,rft.n .orr.. ln the forni of a photo or set of photos wlth a funny caption that

spreads virally on the web. Memes usually make a sly reference to something

thatt currently top of mind in pop culture'

one r,vell-known meme went viral after a few news organizations made

factual errors in reporting on the U.S. Supreme court ruling on the Affordable

Storytelling in the Digital Age

care Act' As the ne\{s was breaking, these organizatior.rs initialh, ,nd incor-rectly reported that the high court had struck ciou,n the act.

The meme, created by photojournalist Garv He, is a photo illustration ofPreside,t Barack obama holding up a digitar tablet nith iNNt i,-,..,..ect \\relrheadline on the ruling. No caption is necessarl,. The illustration is a direct r.isualreference to Harrv Truman hoiding ry the chicago Daily l'ribtrneedition ,r,iththe r.vrong headline: "Deu,ev Defeats Trumanl' people r,r.ho are familiar u,ith thel'ristoric photo immecliately see the paraliel r.vith president obamas triumph.

Another popular meme ir.tvolved Secretarl, of State Hillary Ciinton. A photojournalist capturecl her image u,,hile in flrght on

" c L7r.;;;* i.,itur. srr.

r'trs lr''earing sunglasses and appenred to be texting trri her. Blacl<Berry. A pair ofL).C. communications specialists set up a Tumblr blog and startecl porirng imagesof clinton texting others including president obarrr., vice president

Joe giden,Sarah Palin. (lolin Po*,e]1, and celebrities iike Ryan Gosling a.cl Nieryl Streep.

The "Texts from Hillary" folks kept the blog goi,g tor a *,eek, accur-nu1at-rng 32 posts, 83,000 Facebool< shares,8,400 Tr,vitter follorvers ancl over 45,000rumblr follor'vers.t3 The meme-makers encled the blog rvhen thev received anrctLlal text from Hillary and got to meet maclam secretary. \vhilc it startecl irs a

PuoI0 3,1

-'ce: O Gary He. Reprinted bV permission

148 TOM HUANG

joke, "Texts from Hillary" sparked a public conversation about changing per-

ceptions of Clinton. As Maureen Dowd wrote in a New York Times column:"Hillary Clinton cemented her newly cool image and set off fresh chatter about

her future."laI think of a meme as a visual idea that can range from the punch line of a

joke to the wisdom of a fortune cookie. But do memes constitute a new form

of storl.telling? While memes dont have the scope or depth of a traditionalstory, they offer a new way of conveying ideas. They involve characters-oftenweli-known people-and a snippet of a story line. As with many stories, it's

helpful for the reader to understand a bit ofhistory and current events in order

to understand the context of the meme. And like any good story, a meme can

change the way you look at something or someone; a meme can prompt debate

and discussion.At the same time, I would be hard-pressed to argue that memes, at least in

their current form, add any significant ciarity or nuance to a subject, and they

rarely foster any empathy with the characters in the meme. (On the other hand,

I suppose you could argue that we could empathize more with Hillary clintonas we saw her consumed with texting, an act we can identify with')

Id like to add a note on GIFs here because animated GIFs often become

memes. A GIF (which stands for Graphics Interchange Format) is a type ofdigital image format that ailows for simple animation. GIFs have become

popular because they are easy to share on the Web and can convey the informa-

tion of a short snippet ofvideo.GIFs became a great format to use in showing athletes' feats during the

2012 London Olympics. The Atlantic Wire, for example, used a series of GIFs

of U.S. gymnast lordyn Wieber's performances to visually explain why she

didnt make it to the finals of the all-around gymnastics competition.

Jenna Wortham, a technology reporter at The New York Times, called GIFs

a form of storltelling:

And over the past few weeks, the Games have highlighted the GIF as a

particularly compeliing storytelling format, an amalgamation olvideo and

photo that despite its inherent succinctness is able to convey a narrative.

It's a new medium for an era spent behind a browser, one that understands

the impatience and fractured attention of people reading multiple things

on a screen, the importance of grasping the takeaway within a matter ofseconds. ls

GIFs can be shared easily, and they can go viral quickly. At the same time,

they have the quality of short videos, so they can convey the arc of a brief story.

Wortham wrote:

Whether they are used to caPture a delectable moment on a show llke Mad

Men, an epic tumbie down a flight of stairs or a bizarre facial expression, they

are like the best bits ofa conversation or a spectacularly good punch line, on

repeat, for your entertainment, lorever.l6

Storytelling in the Dlgital Age

GIFs ha'e become so popurar that The Guartlian experimented nith pro-ducing live GIFs from the first presiclential debate behl,een president Barackob.ama and Repubrican nominee Mitt Romne-v in october 2012. Trrc Gu.rdian\Colin Horgan wrote:

used as it is as a nrultiseco.nd snapshot of popular culture, fthe GIF] is a,cxprressio' of the hi'e rnind at work, an all-kno*.ing, a,-seeing, alr-creatrngcollective brain self-referencing fbr only one reason: because it can. Ancl, fbrbetter or worse, it might change l.,orr,r. see our politicians.rT

Social Media

Journalists and n'riters are just beginni'g to explore hou. best to use social'redia

lbr storytelling' But arready they are tiyi,rg to ,ar ,,ori.. irr., ,l"rr..rothe sl'rort bursts of intbrmatior-r t}?icarly conveye6l by tweets and Facebookstatus updates.

One of the best examples of using Tr,vitter for stor,vtelling came l'hen\lexandra Zayas, areporter for the Tampi Bay Times,lire-tuieetecl #or, u 1r,rua.v1011 rape trial in St. petersburg, p1a. ihe uitr.ge,i Bavshore r.rrr,..O..r.",.ahirlself at trial r'r'ithout a. lawyer ancl encred up J.oss-.xu,rining the victim. The"\change

betrveen the arleged rapist and the victim unlbrcied iri a clramatic rvay.Thatdrama was heighteneci because of the 1i'e, unfordi,g nature of Lhe storr..Zayas later ,sed Storify to present her tweets as a story ofsorts. (Storifj.is

'r software tool, developecl b,v a former Ap journalist, trrat e,ables a Llser to:o,-rpile tweets, Facebook upcrates, photos ancl other social mecria erernents and-'lace them into a meaningful order.) After that, Zayas wrote a fuil story for trre.re\vspaper, as we1l.

, Trvitter is a natural, powerful tooi for covering breaking ner,r,s. on Saturdav

-riehts, *,hen I work as the front_page news editoi for *y,I"r", "rg*;;;;,'i''-se mr Twitter feed as a news rvire. i'il often see breaking news aie.ts ii.r, or-,

, rr'itter.

Some lvriters are recognizing that'rnitter has the potentiar to be a storv:]ling platform beyoncl ,e*s ar.-.tr. Mailary Jean Tenoie, managing eclitor of:rl\-nter Or-rline, pointed out:

T*itter is a por.ve'ful tool r.r r.r.riters. \vith its r40,character linrit, itt rike a,electronic editor that forces us to find a tbcus and make er.er,v,vurd coruit. It,.sa verbose l'ritert fiiend and u.orst enemy-a constant rerninder that itt oftenharder to r,r,r.ite short than it is to write long.rs

I, an August 2012 poy,ter corumn, Tenore presented severar exa,rpies of,rlpelling story-like tweets.Xeni lardin, a technology journalist at Boing Boing, is chronicling her

'rttle with breast cancer on Twitter, Tenore rvrote. Her trveets range frclm. ocati'e descriptlons of chemothertrpy tcl arguments against the ,.pink,, cari-r-

''iqn against breast cancer. She has tuilt a Jommunity of more trran 63,000''itter foilou,ers lr.ho care about r.vhat happens to her on a daily basis.

lso TOM HUANG

To be sure, some of this is due to the cleep concern that many people

feel about the topic of breast cancer. But a 1ot of it has to do lvith lardin'sstrength as a stor,vteiler. As Tenore notes, lardin has the gift of evoking the

ur-rderiving tension in a scene in ir,isl a fe-r rvorcis. During one therapy ses-

sion, larclin tweeted: "Soft rock radio in radiation u'aiting room. MariahCarey's f)ne Su,eet Day. Su4 tr;rck for room fuli of people possibly on way

to heaven."Another journalist, Joanr-ia Smith of the Toronto Sfar, covered the after-

math of the Haiti earthquake via Tn itter. In one sceue, Smith tweeted: "Woman

shriehing, piercing screams, 'Mama! Papal Jesusl' as dressing on her woundedheel is changed outside clinic. No painkillers." Tenore notes that Smith empioys

the rule that all great storyteliers knou': Shotv, don't tell. Smith packs her tweets

lr,ith action, dialogue and sensory details.

The storl,telIing th;it Zayas, Jardin and Smith present on Tvritter reinforces

ai1 of the tradiiional values of storytelling. The brer.ity of Twitter enforces clar-

it1, and focus. 'fhe ability to cover a story as it unfolds, rvhether over minutes

or days or months, enables the storlteller to capture the nuance of the subject.

And the intimacy of the platform 1-reips Tlvitter fbllowers empathize with the

storyteller and his or her characters.

What's harder to gauge ls the power-and tension-that social media

interaction u,ii1 trring to this kind of stor$eiling. As journalists tell their stories

via Tr,r,itter, they u,ii1 certainly also receive cluestions and cornments from theirfollowers. Some of that interaction u,i11 no doubt interrupt and change the

course of the storytelling.For exar-nple, imagine readers asking Zayas to tweet a description of the

defendant as the triai r,r.as going on, or asking ]ardin to explain why Mariah

Care,v's song \r'as a bad track that dai', or asking Smith to take her reporting to

another Haitian city 1"he storyteller may or rnay not respond. But theret an

opportunity to elaboraie or sr.vitch gears, right in the middie of telling the story.

I see this as a positive development. As storytellers respond to their foilowers,

therei a greater opportunity for clarity, nuance and empathy. At the same time,

there's also a chance for greater confusiot.t, as m,rny voices could drown out the

voice of the stor1.tel1er.

Facebook aiso has potential fbr nerv storyts]lin, as a platform fbr gather-

ing information and a venue for teiling stories through other people's voices"

While I haven t seen many erarnptres of this, Ian Shapira of The Washington

Posr produced a fascinating story based on Facebook status updates.le The

story focr.rsed on a rvoung wofiian rvho rlevelcped complications after childbirthand ultimatel,v died. Shapira received permission tiorl the wotnatl'.s family toproduce a siorybased on her Facebook updates, as lveli as those of her famiiv

ar-rd friends.As a narrator, Shapira ir.rserted liis orvn voice sparingly and onlv when

necessary to add coirtext or move the story along. It was a successful experl-

ment that shou,s hor,v storyteilers can use social media to tell stories through

other peopiet voices.

Storytelling in the DigitalAge

Games

As part of t he ..s

il'#ffi li:t;'"T#.1:.;r"i?$HHt+::f;:T#,*t:5U:H:cared srories ;;,::tt,rno

complex issues. p[aysrs:;; .:i;;::;;l*rn ."r0,,-

a cr ors r h e p r, y.^ ;iJ:i ;'."k J::.1 L ili TfrU[:n:l : ; :,,X f ::{;, n "r,l, ilJi ffi,,]

r,, t r,. .o n,.q * r *,.#,i,.,,. deci s io n s

ul I t;i : tift::r: ff i; i,#lii, :", T I ; {[Xi:*::l ;.;,xI J i;experience ,hu, i.,,.*ur'

Games' however, can.be ; .r;;;;;iir*...iu.u nt p r u.. u kl' ,#: ;:',i:l: ij:,r.i] :ilTJ,'j

o 1

t i n s, r,. u,.. i J n, o,r,.., i *.and, endsr tt.,.r.., iypi.aJIy a larger nnrrr,l:.^'o.n1ve

begirrnings. middies

i ::J :: :,Yfl?.1:';.v: i, r l, ; ; ; :,;,

' ;; ;'i i;;, ; :: ; ii,i.:i:i : : ;;, :;game. erp the user empathize witir some ;il;

"l_., ,, ,n"

^ .In one remarkable project in 2007, vetrGrabowicz worked witn'stuaents' ^;";;;,]]ji11

u* -Area iournalist Paul

.?'.di,"f. School or lor.,ru'il#';; ::":l: ;1lversitr. of california-Berkeley

.rreet..,The game,oo,lutlu,,., to creare a game calied .,Reme,ru.lrg

,,1-,

::*::;#,i j::,rl:ti1l,ii'.",:'lii[;'.n**l;,','.',';iill;;.irrualsrreet.

_r_^!ua6 not to write stories but to build r"n" "_"rl*O a,

u,ol,l!'"ilt.'fifliJlt: local news organizariorr needs ro be more rhan jusr. r.ore in pBSs MediaShg

peopre about currenr' ropte to undersra nd, ; 1i'0" t-;;";: "'';' ;' J"'xn'.l','j r."":::' ff ::,T:

,r. uy r.,,,,g'p."pil ;:5lJ:ilTlil'i l?irhiislorr A i,,J."1,,. j,, o"

't just rvhat's happening today but wrrat came olffiI:'o"t"ts and ,ndersrand

::1,:,ii;,

,lrll','il';lii

.ii-iir il

I:1.'rti

r;.irlliliii:iirr:l

iii;tii.'.,,

CHANGINGST .TIl?lNG HABtTs cAN REtNFoRcE

NG'S VALIIF:l the t.adirional Ions-form qrnrr,.,.-..:.-

-

r,. Lu"a-*.r;;;i'fJTT,.'#:'":::::in the cligitai age? Despite some, h.^ ln

n,i,,*ri ngi ns, ;.;, ;r;;;i,::il;:JT.:re d isita i ase? Desp i r e somc

- 'lory will not only surviv" h,r rh";.,^ ^^ , that question. I believe that,=:,:':,'l#'lJll,,:',r"::::,1,:L:,i*";ffi;1, jilllxtrlii;.j.1'ji= tce,s and as digital stor

on .tr4(rlng Decomes easier on digital.ired stories and other,"rr^.1:rj:.1r":d

streams encourage ,..J... ,l."Ir,^".:ted stories anJ other inf __*".-." arru srreofilS encourage re

in recenf \ip.rc *^-- rormation that might interest them.

explore

."ler it seemecl to read , "--.1,1. -urr uur aesKtop and iaptop computers_the

- and scanning .;;il'il|;:"l,lTjf-.Y' became accusromed ,o ,r.,,

j:"T,.:1, years, many ; ;';;;;;ttt8nt,nterest themuse lhe more we read onlin"_^h ^,.- r- ,

;tory tvas in peril. That!l:::'h. more we read ontine.-";ilojri:#e storv rvas in peri1. Thattler it seemecl to read unwh;._ i- ,r^'^.r- .., ,, nd iaptop computers_the

.:;; j;:f il?":ffi :::J::,".",.,yil'J#I'ff TJ"fl .l#.::fi

;,1f -*. inrormation "; ;.;;:i:::H:Til"t;: fiJ:;:fr:T:s

52 TOiVI HUANG

F,u-r the ilJacl irnd other rligitirl tablets are making re:rding rnore pleirsur-abie. At tht' salne timc, the screens cln smtrrtphones Llre improving, ancl usersseenr to be aclapting to rcading longer stolies on stl;rl1cr devices.

1t-t:,';,idiiional s1s1ir1s1]ii1o is to survive, it must sLLrvir'-e on n-robile devices,as m(rre and rtrore peoprig 1-1l11rarn-re infori-nation on these devices. As of Ftr1l 2012,nearh- ir Lllizlrier of U.S. aclults o.lu.r'rccl a digital tablet, ancl another 23 percerrt

plannecl to ilet orle in l1-ie ncxt sir moi-rths, accorcling to "Future of l,{obileNeu,s," ail October 2012 studr.bv tl.ie Pen, Research Center's Project for Excel

ler-ice in lournaiisnr in collaboration r,ith The Econorrist Group. Meanr'r,1-ii1e,

I t,,l'tn rrl-.1,]ulL: u,rncJ .t itttlrtpholtc.lr'tany nro-Lrilc users are "re;r,-ling krnger nelr,s stories-73 percent of adults

rtiro ,;onsur.r.re ne\vs on their tirblct read in-clepth iirticles at Least soraetimes,

inchr,-iing 19 percent rl,ho clo so dail1r,' according 1o the stuc11,l "Fully (1 percentof snialttrhor-re ne1{s consumers at least sometimes reael longer stories, 11 percentre guiarll.i'r 1

'"Airri looliing at the threc-quarters of tablet news users r'r,ho irt least some-tinres ::eacl in cleptli articles, the rnajority reatl inore than one irrtlcle in :r tvpl-cal sittiirg,"'il-re report stirtes.'About six-in-ten (61 percent) read tu,o to threeariicles in a sitling and anothcr 17 percent reaci fbur or ilx)re. Ancl these are

otieri articles the,ri dicl not set oul to reacl. Ciose to three-quarters, 72 percent,sa,v the r. reaci in ciepti-r articies that [hey $,ercn't looking lor at least sorner,vhat

olien (inclr-iding 17 percelt u,ho sa) that is verr,ofterr the case)i'22

The "F,,Lture of-N,{obilc Neu,s" report presents another signiliciint firrdir.rg:

l\,Iobiie tee hnologl'appears [o bc increasing nel,\'s consunrption. While 55 per-celt Lritablet lre\'vs Lisers sa,v the neu,s thev get or-r the device is reptrtrcing nelvs

thevll get eiser,ihere, another,l3 pcrcer.rt sa1, lhe r.rer,vs lhel, get ori the cler-ice is

ilclding to therir overall ne\rs consuinption. dr-rcl lor those rvho consLlfire ne\vs

ircross rnnitiple platforrr-rs, -58 percent sa,v their tablet ner,r,s is aclding to theirne11,5 COnSLil-nptiOi-r.

lr,{eanro,.iriie, lvhen u,e cor.rsicler nruch longer fbrm stor1.te11ing, rve find thatone-fifth of U.S. adr-i1ts iraye rea,.l a bool<, or e booii, on an electronic reader ortabli:t ln t1-re past 1.ear', accorcling to an April 2012 stucl,v bv the Pelv Intelnet andAnericirn l.ite Froject. 1-1ie ar.erage reaeier of e-bool<s has read 24 books in thepast .,.e ar.ll

The erou'ing popuiarity ol",vebsites like Longfonn.org and Longreads.com, -silcs that ctLrate long-lornr journalism, reinforces the Project tbr Jour-nalisrr F,rcelicnce's {'inclings. The eclitors irt these trvo sites bring a sh:rrp eve

for tl-re best in-rleptl-r storytelling, as u,e11 as a sa\.W'sense of holv to presentthese stories in rnultiple cligital forn"rats.'I'heir curirtecl stories are availablenot just oi.r Lorrgtbrm's anci tr,ongreacis'lebsites, but also on their Faceboohpagc's u.iel r,ia Tu,itter. Longlornr also has an iPacl app, ll.hile both irre avail-able on Fiipboarcl, the nr;rgazine-lilie aggregiitioil app. Nieanlr,hile, apps likef{e;iclabilitl'irncl trnsLapaper make it eas,v fbr readers to si}\,e stories, access

thein on rlr-rltiprle devices ancl enjov thern in ii consistent ancl easy-to-readi'oriliri"

Digital innovation is also reinforcing storytelling in ser-eral (]tn.:- -;.,.':.-.:'

MoreandmorepeoplehavetheopportunitytotelltheirStolies,andtrlll-Lr."..pr".r".-,u..u,uitnbt.togettheirstoriesinfrontofanaudier-rce.Drqit.lLinnovation has macle it *.it' tJpublish one's work' via social media' on a blog

or in an e-booh'With social media, the opportunity to share and recommend stories has

signlficantly increased. For news stories in particular, the audience apPears to

UJ g.o*lrlg on social networks' From 2010 to 2Ol2' the percentage of U'S'

aduitswhoreadanervsStoryorhea<llineonasocialnetworkingsitetheprevi-ous day grew from 9 percent to 19 percent' according to a Septembe.r 2012

study by the Pew Research Center flr the People & the Press' One-third of

ujoti, orla., 30 got their news on social networks'24

Pressures on Storytelling's Values

While many of the new story forms are adding to journalism by expanding

the avenues in whi.ch we can teli stories and by making it easier to share these

stories, they are also applying new pressures to the values ofclarity' nuance and

ernpathy oi good ,to.y.[in'g. I wtuld argue that r,r,hile it is getting easier to

read iong-form stories "" Jtgu"f devices' these digital devices.are potentially

.irivingustodistraction,diminishingourattentionspansandourabilitytorocus. The research on iiri, is still ii its early stages. But our_ own personal

..f..i.... would suggest that we are multitasking more and more on our

Jrgital screens. , : xt ^^.. v^_t. Ti*o.Matt Richtel covered much of this subject in his New York Trmes series'

''\bur Brain on Computersi' In June 2010' he wrote:

At home, people consume 12 hours of media a clay on average' when an hour

spent with, say, the Internet and TV simultaneously counts as two hours'

That compares with five hours in 1960' sa,v researchers at the University of

California, San Dlego' Computer users visit an average of 40 Web sites a daLy'

according to reseirch by RescueTirne' u'hich offers time-management

too1s.25

in August 2010, Richtel cited research at the University of California' San

::ancisco, suggesting that human beings need downtime (time away from

,::eens) to process *1rutifr.y t-,uue 1.u.r-t.i. Loren Frank, a physiology professor

the univeisity, told Richtei:'Almost certainly' downtime lets the brain go over

...:etiences it's had, solidify them and turn them into permanent long-term

,':,;;;;;tr; Frank said he believed that when the brain was constantly stimu-

-.:.1, "yott prevent this learning process'"26

I bring up this i,,* Uttu'i'i reading long-form stories requires time and

:,rs. Today's storytellers must compete wit[ a steady stream-some would

- barrage-of information that we consume every day' That increases the

.r:iSUr€onstoryelierstoproducetaiesthatarenotonlyweiltold'butrelevant'

.::ing and emotionallY resonant'

t. :::

"" ri..,1.t:

i,:,,

t .:t.'.|:

i:,i::i

' -:l:

l

',,,;i

rll

:

.'.

i

ir

\\rhile digital innovation is expanding the platforms on which we can getstories, it is also potentially creating a fragmented audience. Research suggeststhat our communities are aiready fragmented in the media that they consumefor news and information. But I suspect that digital tablets and smartphoneswill only increase that fragmentation.

AMay 20\2 Nielsen report indicated that 67 .3 percentof Asian Americansuse smartphones, compared to 57 .3 percent of Hispanics, 54.4 percent of AfricanAmericans and 44.7 percent of whites.27

The Project for |ournalism Excellence's "Future of Mobile News" studyfound that while African Americans are less likely to own a tablet than arewhites, those who do are more likely to get news on it daiiy: 56 percent of blacktablet owners compared to 36 percent of white users. The percentage of His-panics who own a tablet is comparable to that of whites, and they are just as

likeiy to be daily news consumers on the device.Overall, that's a positive trend for those of us who believe that, for democ-

racy to thrive, news and information should be widely accessible to all."Perhaps tablets and smartphones, which provide ready access to news fromany source at lower cost of entry than desktop computers, may translate into apowerful news consumption tool for populations that felt underserved by themedia in legacy forms," the report stated.28

I would like to raise a cautionary flag, though. If different demographicgroups tend to have different access points lor stories-say, one group primar-ily on tablets, another on smartphones and a third on several platforms-thatincreases the pressure on journalists to make sure that the quality of in-depthjournalism and storyteiling is consistent across all devices.

The deeper issue here is that we tell stories in order to make sense of theworld, of ourselves and of our role in the world. we create master narratives aboutourselves and about our collective societies. If we become fragmented by wherewe get our stories, our narratives potentiaily fragment, as well. If young people ofcolor primarily get their news and information through short bursts of informa-tion (perhaps even with a sarcastic and cynical tone) on thelr smartphones, whatnarratives wili they develop about themselves and their role in society? whateverthe answer is, it doesnt bode weil for clarity, nuance and empathy.

Digital innovation is adding pressures to the values of storltelling in sev-eral other ways. Tweets, memes and GIFs, if they supplant traditional stories asthe primary way people-particularly young people-share information, thenclarity, nuance and empathy are diminished.

The day of the singie narrator, who has control of a story through his orher authority and expertise, may be going or gone. Therei nothing inherentlywrong with that. we have the opportunity to add clarity and nuance to a storyas more people, with different perspectives, contribute to the story. There's a

benefit to having citizens contribute their photos and comments, especially ifthey are witnesses to a breaking-news story. But this is a double-edged sword.These additional voices can drown out the single narrator and bring confusionrather than clarity.

Storytelling in the DigitalAge

while there's great merit in allowing readers to see stories as they developin real time, the strategy is less effective in the coverage of breaking news thatfeatures ambiguity and partiar information. consid-er the coveige of theshooting of congresswoman Gabby Giffords, the imminent death" of pennState football coach loe paterno and the u.S. Supreme court ruling on theAffordable care Act. In the rush to get the stories first, journalists mud". fa.trrulerrors. while such mistakes happen on any platform, social networks acceler-ate the spread of inaccurate information.

CONCLUSION

iack Hart, the iegendary editor and story coach, has argued that human beingsare hard-wired for story. There's something in our DNA that compels us to find-.ul1lg in everything around us. We do so by telling stories.

- Ultimately, we care about the future of the story because it has an ethicalfunctio,, close to journalismt essential purpose. Sharing stories is also how wecreate bonds with one another. Thats what I witnessed on my flight fromDallas to chicago, as I. watched the eiderry man connect with the youngmother and her 2-year-old son as he showed them videos ofhis granddaughteron his smartphone.

That is why I think that the traditionar story wil endure, even as digitalinnovation pushes and puils and shapes the story into different forms. It,s clearthat the iPad and other digital tableis are making reading an even more prea-surable experience, and digital devices are making stories even more portableand sharable.

At the same time, I'm not naiVe enough to thinktechnology won't chailenge the values that the best:romote: clarity, nuance and empathy.

Now our traditional storyteling has to make room for other forms--nteractive graphics, data centers, memes, GIFs and games-arl of which con-"e' information without necessarily telling stories in a linear way. stories are:ecoming more like living organisms. Through story clusters and streams,:eaders can watch in real time as stories develop, expand and take on different:aths. That's a messy process that can lead to confusion and, in some of the',iorst cases, the viral spread offactual errors.

Stories are becoming more like conversations. Especially through''rcial media, readers can interact with storyteilers and heip direct the sto-:"'teiling through questions and feedback. They can even add their own::rspectives. In the best cases, those contributions can lead to greater:ance and empathy. In the worst cases, they can get in the *ny"of th.

' :g1e narratort clarity and turn a story into an endllss argument, or even. ::ame of "telephone" in which the original facts are lost Ind exaggerated. ihe retelling.

In a sense, every new form has its own strengths and weaknesses. As news: r'es from lecture to dialogue, it gains the energy and relevance ofinteractivity.

that advances in digitaltraditional stories can

ls6 TOM HUANG

But it also loses the carefully constructed coherence of something that wasprepared as a nuanced presentation.

Storltellers will have to bring their'A game" to their craft because theirstories will have to compete for the time and attention of readers who are mul-titasking on their digital screens and woozy with information overload. Andthey will have to ensure that the quality of their stories is consistent across

digital devices, as different demographic groups consume stories through dif-ferent access points.

Despite all of these pressures and challenges, I remain optimistic that sto-r1telling will flourish in the digital age, and I'm excited by the prospects fornew forms of storltelling. As David Eagleman wrote in a review of The Story-telling Animal by Jonathan Gottschall: "The medium of story is changing, inother words, but not its essence. Our inborn thirst for narrative means thatstory-its power, purpose and relevance-will endure as long as the humananimal does."29

Editors' Note: The Tampa Bay Times, which operates PolitiFact, is owned by The Poynter

Institute, the employer of this book's co-editor and set,eral of its contributors.

NOTES

1. Jon Franklin, Writing for Story: Craft Secrets of Dramatic Nonfiction by a Two-Time Pulitzer

Prize Winner (New York, Atheneum, 1986), 48.

2. Bill Adair, "Let's Blow Up the News Story and Build New Forms of Iournalisml' Poynter.org,

June 21,20i2, http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/newsgathering-storytelling/178038/lets-

blow-up-the-news-story-and-bui1d-new-forms-of-j ournalism/.

3. loan Didion, Tlre White Album (NewYork: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 1990), 11.

,1. fack Harl, Storycraft: The Complete Guide to Writing Narrative Nonfiction (Chicago, The

University of Chicago Press, 201 1), 9.

5. Ted Anthony, "In Campaign, a Battle over Owning Americat Storyi' Associated Press,

September 8,2012, http://bigstory.ap.org/article/campaign-battle-over-owning-americas-

storY.

6. fackHart, Storycraft,5.

7. Archie Tse and Ben Werschkul, "How Class Workl' T/re New York Times, May 15, 2005, http://

www.nltimes.com/packages/html/national/20050515 CLASS-GRAPHIC/index-03.html.

8. Edward Segel and |effrey Heer, "Narrative Visualization: Telling Stories with Data," IEEE

Trans. Visualization & Computer Graphics (Proc. InfoVis), 2010, http://vis.stanford.edu/

files/20 i 0-Narrative-InfoVis.pdf.

9. Lee Hancock and Sonya Hebert, "Choosing Thomas," The Dallas Morning New5 August 28,

2009, http://www.youtub e.com/watch?v-ToNWquoXqlI.

10. 'About Homicide Watch D.C.i'Homicide Watch D.C., http://homicidewatch.org/about/

1 1 . "Exploring a New, More Dynamic Way of Reading News with Living Storie s)' Google Official

Blog December 8,2009, http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009l12lexploring-new-more-

dynamic-way-of.html.

12. "OurMission," Sbnation,http://www.sbnation.com/about.

13. "TTYLI' Texts from Hillary, April 11, 2012, http://textsfromhillaryclinton.tumblr

.com/.

Chapter 3 Storytelling in the Digital Age

14. Maureen Dowd, "State of Cool,,, The New york fimes, April I0, 2012, http://\,vww.n1,times.com/20121 04 I 1l I opinion/dowd_state_of,cool.html? r=0.

15 len,a wortham, "Digital Diary: How GIFs Became the perfect Medium for the olympicsl,The New York rimes, August 12, 2012, http://bits.blogs.nytimes.co Il.r2.Il2rof,rr2rhow-tr.te-gifs-became-the-perfect-medium-for-the_olympics/.

16. Ibid.17. colin Horgan, "The presidentiar Election and the GIFs That Keep Givingi, rfte Guardian,

october 8,2012, http://www.guardian.co.uk/comme,tisfree/2012loct/0g/gifs-giving-presidential-candidate.

18' Mallary fean Tenore, "what Trvitter Teaches Us about writing Short & weili, poynter.org,August 30,2012, http://rvww.poy'nterorg/how-tos/newsgathering-storytelling/1g6371/what-twitter teaches-us about-writing_short_well/

19. Ian Shapira, 'A Facebook Story: A Mother,s.loy and a Family,s Sorrow,,,pos/ local December9 ' 2010, http://www.washingtonpost. com/rvp-srv/special/metro/facebook-story-mothers-j oy-familys - sorrow.html.

l0 Paul Grabowicz, "why rournalists Should Deverop video Games," Mediashift ldea Lab,February 6, 2008, http://www.pbs.org/idealab/200g/02hvhy-joumarists-srrould-deverop-video-ganes005.l-rtml.

ll Amy Mitchell, Tom Rosenstiel, Laura Houston Santhanam, and Leah christian,..TheExplosion i. Mobile Audiences and a Crose Look at what It Means for News, Future ofMobile Newsl' rournalism.org, october 1, 2012, http:/Avww.journarism.org/analysis_report/future_mobile news.

rl. Ibid.

l-j' Lee Rainie, Kathryn Zickuhr, Kristen purceil, Mary Ma<lden, and loan,a Brenner, ,,The Rise

of E-reading," pewlnternet, April 4, 2012, http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2 0r2r01ro1rtherise-of-e,reading/.

-i "In changing Nervs Landscape, Even Television Is vurnerabre: Trends in News consumption:l99r-20r21' Pew Research center for the people 6 the press, September 27,20l2,http://rvww'people-press'orgl2012l09l27lin-changing news-landscape-even-television is,vulnerable/.

- -i x'{att Richtel, 'Attached to Technology and payir-rg a pricel' The New york rimes,rune 6, 20r0,http://wrvw.nltimes.com/20 1 0/06/07ltechnology/07brain.html?pagewanted_all.

-: Matt Richtel, "Digital Devices Deprive Brain of Needed Downti,-re,,, The New york.r.imes,August 24, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/ 20l0rogr25rtechLrology/25brain.htmr?pagervanted=all.

- - Ingrid Lunden, "Nielsen: Smartphones used by 50.4% of U.S. consumers, Android 48.5% of

Theml' TechCrunch, May 7 ' 2012, hftp:iltechcrunch.com/2 o12r05roT rniersen-smartphones-used by-50 4-of-u s-consumers_android_4g_5_of them/..{my Mitchell et al., "The Explosion in Mobile Audiences.,,

- - Da,id Eagleman, "The Moral of the Story 'The Storytelling Animal,,by ronathan Gottschall,,,The New York Thnes, August 3, 2012, http://w\.w.n1times.com/20r2l08/05/books/reviewthe-storytelling-animal by-jonathan-gottschall.html?pagewanted_all& r=0.

Caitlin Johnston

ln his essay on storytelling, Tom Huang argues that "digital innovation will bringprofound changes and add new pressures to the values of storytelling." Homicide

Watch is a data center that tells the story of crime through the use of public

records, original reporting and user-generated information.

In the age of digital storl'telling, Homicide Watch D.C. has distinguished itselfas a leader in data presentation. Launched in 2010, the site aims to maintain

records on every homicide in D.C.-from the day it occurred to the day ofconviction or dismissal.

The tag line states: "Mark every death. Remember every victim. Follow

every case."1 Maps, videos, photo galleries, PDFs of court documents, inter-

views with family members-the site uses a range of storlteiling tools to paint

the most comprehensive plcture possible of homicides in D.C.

The purpose ofthe site is clear:

As DC residents, we believe that how people live and die here, and how those

deaths are recognized, matters to every one of us. If it matters how someone

is killed in Cleveland Park, then it matters how someone is killed in TruxtonCircle, h,ry City, Washington Highlands or Georgetown. If we are to under-

stand violent crime in our community, the losses of every family, in every

neighborhood must be recognized. And the outcome of every trial-be it a

conviction or an acquittal-must be recorded.2

Since its launch, Homicide Watch has been awarded the Knight Public

Service Award by the Online News Association in 2012, and it was named an

OpenGov Champion by the Sunlight Foundation.Former beat reporter Laura Amico launched the site and runs it with jour-

nalist and Web developer Chris Amico, her husband. Together they gather, sort,

visualize and present information on each crime. Entries include the victimtphoto, biographical information, the date and cause of death, a map plottingthe crime's iocation, stories written about the case and input from friends and

family, when provided. Information is also included about suspects, along withnames and phone numbers for detectives on the case.

While traditional journalism covers murders individually, in single sto-

ries sometimes accompanied by photos, Homicide Watch D.C. aggregates all

the information in a common place, aliowing for selective sorting and view-

ing based on the viewer's goals. The site design makes it easy for readers to

choose how they want to sort through the information. Navigation includes

links to "Latest Newsl' "Victimsl' "suspectsl' "Mapi' "Photosi' "Documents"

and "Calendarl'which tracks court dates for the suspects.

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Case Study 3: Digital Storytelling Tools

, The Amicos rely on a mix of traditionar reporting and digital tools to filithe site. "It's a remarkabie thing to behord-part datibase, plrt news site, italso serves as a kind of digitar rnemoriar for homicide victims in washington,,,wrote David carr, media corumnist at The New york Times. "Their picturesare published, their cases are folowed, and their deaths are u.kro*l.d'g.d u, umeaningful event in the life of the city.,,3

QUEST!ONS

o what is the benefit of data sites such as Homicide watch D.C. that anowreaders to access and analyze information for themseives?

' Look at a week of cases and discuss what story the site collectively tells.what patterns do you see? what evidence-photos, documents, narrative_ismost informative? what questions remain unanswered? where might thoseanswers come from? what rore does narrative storltelring pruy.o-pui.d to theother forms used on the site?

o When you view the data on Homicide Watch by victims, it tells onestory. When you view it by.suspects, it tells yet another story. And when youview it by the map, it tells stil another. Brieflydescribe each story. what are theimpiications of-allowing users to sort the data themselves without a ..masternarrative" to inform it? what context is emphasized and what context is lost?

-. Homicide Watch D.C. http://homicidewatch.org/.l'About Homicide watch D.c. Homicide watch D.c.http://hornicidewatch.org/about/.:' David carr, "lnnovation in Journalism Goes Begging for Support," 'fhe New york Times,

September 9' 2012, http://wwr,\,.nytimes.com/2012l09/10/business/media/homicide-watchweb-site-yenture struggles-to survive.html?pagewanted=all& r_2&.

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