This multimedia journalism project opens to a webpage with sixteen boxes, each filled with one person speaking with no sound; however, the longer you watch, more people are rotated into the boxes. This is powerful because it shows a collective group of individuals.
After this, there is an introduction video; this works because it provides context for what visitors are about to absorb and empowers them to make the most from the experience.
The next section provides a series of words and the visitor can choose which they want to click on. By choosing a term, the visitor is taken to a video of different people talking about what that word means to them. Following the video, a visitor can choose another word or comment their own thoughts - some written responses are shared on the webpage.
This interactive element really stands out and elevates this project from good to great. A visitor can almost choose their own journey through the project; they can either focus on what they are most interested in, or they can go through all of the information. The importance of this is that we live in a very individualistic society, and people relish in their ability to choose, even if it's something small.
The final section provides a link to an archived Reddit thread started by The Seattle Times and articles from various other viewpoints that touch on the discussion of race and equality.
At the very end, there is an opportunity to learn more about the interviewees by watching their individual videos, as well as some behind-the-scene photos of the interviews and more written information about the project.
The use of video and audio clips from real people makes this project so compelling. It's so much more than just words on a page, but also not over-produced to where it looks like it was made in Hollywood. The videos make it easy to connect to the interviewees.
Overall, I think what made this project so outstanding was the use of storytelling. The driving question was one that effectively allowed an overarching story to be told while fairly representing the viewpoints of multiple people. These two elements are suggested by NPR for reporting to tell a story - you can read more about those two and four other elements here.
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