Analysis: Multimedia

Note: I accidentally did the speech analysis last week. Here is that entry.

by Sarah Harper

The multimedia options offered by the Minnesota Daily are much more user friendly than those offered by the New York Times. While the New York Times' multimedia section is buried in a monotonous toolbar, the Daily's multimedia section is featured with a large, noticeable tab on the top of the front page.

The Daily features photos, slide shows and videos. The Times features those, in addition to interactive maps and graphics. The type of writing done by the Daily's multimedia department is sparse and strictly descriptive. Especially under photographs and videos, the Daily's multimedia writing is as brief as possible. It offers little detail. In the slide show story, "Atmosphere at TCF Bank Stadium," no slide is accompanied by more than one sentence. Some have no caption. The overall style is clean and simple, with no unnecessary information at all.

The Times' multimedia section is different in that slide shows alone function as comprehensive news stories. Their cutlines include "the whole story" of any issue. Not only do writers describe what is going on in the pictures, they contextualize it for the reader. The slide show, "Old School in Silicon Valley," could function as a new stories if you took their pictures out. The characteristics of this kind of writing are thoroughness, detail and factual information.