Multimedia and online journalism

Alan Regan, Denis McEvoy and Ciara Ní Ghabhann

Ethics of convergence

• Convergence is “going to distract journalists, journalism teachers, and journalism students, away from that single most important imperative of the craft - to create an informed society capable of intelligently governing itself.”

• Less investigative reporting• Fewer journalists doing more work

• Less competition between journalists• Journalists as salespeople• Blurring of editorial content and advertising• “Get it up and fix it later”

• How to translate ethical standards for print to online journalism

• Ethical relationships between the organisation and its journalists

“all at once exhilarating, terrifying, baffling, inspiring and damaging.”

- NUJ, 2007

What is multimedia?

Multimedia storytelling• Oklahoma city bombing (1995)• Immediate coverage• RTÉ.ie launches – May 26, 1996

Nov. 14, 1996 Jan. 26, 1999

Advertising potential• UK:

2006 – online: £2bn, TV: £4bn2009 (first half) – online: £1.75bn, TV: £1.63bn

• Online bypasses TV for the first time• Pre-roll vs. mid-roll• Flash potential • “Much more appealing than 30

seconds of bludgeoning.”

Practicalities• Co-location regarded as essential• Guardian’s pre-2008 setup:

“does that make sense in a 24/7 news operation? No.”

Production values• Doesn’t need to be as good, says Roussel• “...unencumbered as it is by a broadcast

tradition of high production values.”• Some editors question their popularity

What works well• Integrated video without repeating the text• Embedded videos

What works well

What works well• Integrated video without repeating the text• Embedded videos• Specialists• “Text is cornerstone”• Video use central

- Press gazette• Content is king• Content isn’t king• “Content has no value unless it’s shared among

people. You need a community to talk about it.” – Mark Little

Why it’s difficult• Trial and error• Time-poor, demanding audience• Skills• Time and cost• Editorial challenges• We still don’t know• How much of it will be

useless?