Multimedia Analysis

News organization example 1: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/03/sunday-review/the-holocaust-just-got-more-shocking.html?src=me&ref=general

The New York Times article incorporates a lot of hyperlinks into its stories, as well as large, high-quality photos. In the article about the Holocaust, there is also a sidebar labeled 'multimedia' that has a couple maps of the ghettos and concentration camps. The story is about the results of an attempt to count the number of ghettos and concentration camps. It gives the figures (42,500) but the maps help a reader really grasp the sheer number.

News organization example 2: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/03/03/173258954/scientists-report-first-cure-of-hiv-in-a-child-say-its-a-game-changer

This article by NPR is about how scientist believe they have cured a young girl of HIV. It also includes a lot of hyperlinks, and big photos that wouldn't look nearly as good in a newspaper. NPR's articles include the chance for its readers to comment on individual stories.

Both stories are able to achieve much more depth because of the multimedia features. The writing is more layered and detailed because hyperlinks provide additional information, background info, and save the author from having to describe everything-- they can just point the reader to a past story. Features like photos and video are useful because it can help different learners access news. For example, the map of the ghettos may help a visual learner better grasp the significance of the numbers.