Personal Reporter: A Tool for Online Journalism through the Lens of College Football and Marching Band
I am creating a new tool to be used in filtering through electronic journalism, especially in the case of large articles. A large feature story has many aspects, and some readers may only be interested in a part of the story. This tool allows them to check off which subjects they are interested in, and how much additional multimedia content they would like to see, and then it renders a customized article, tailored to the needs of that particular reader. In creating this interface I hope to explore the possibilities or user-control over news, and whether or not it is journalistically responsible on the production side to give readers that much control. As the prototype for this system I will write and report a long feature story about college marching bands and their effect on college sports teams, especially football. I hope to incorporate the issues raised in the article (school spirit, branding, athletic competition, musical performance) into the design and feel of the site.
Definition
1. Genre- Interface design
2. Research Methodology- To write the article itself I will interview, research, report, gather data, and gather and create multimedia. The interface will visualize the article data in the form of a reader’s preferences. By creating this interface I hope to provide the reader with a personal and engaging reading and viewing experience. For example, there are many different audiences for the article; athletes, band members, coaches, band directors, parents, sports fans, etc. And there are many categories within the article, for example; bands opinion, athletes opinion, coaches opinion, fan opinions, descriptions of bands, the various sports (football, basketball, etc), various schools (USC, UCLA, Oregon, etc). Each person cares only about certain aspects of the article. Say there is a USC band student interested in reading the article. They may only want to read the sections related to USC, not any other schools, and say they only are interested in hearing the players opinions of the band, in addition, they are at work and cannot view and video or audio. Upon arriving at the website, they can check off those story elements, and in multimedia section only check photos and the interface will create an article for then that only includes those sections and only uses relevant photos as multimedia.
3. Delivery Format- website including text, photos, video, and audio. A user will come to the website and view a short intro video that previews all aspects of the article. Then they will be presented with a checklist. The list will include all of the main subjects in the article (previously listed) as well as an option of what type of multimedia you prefer to view. There is also a “select all” option for people that want to read the article traditionally as a whole. In a database, each block of text with a multimedia component attached will be tagged with the different subjects. After you make your selections and hit submit, an article will be rendered for you that only includes the subjects you wanted, attached to the multimedia that you requested. At the end of the article you have the option to go back and start over, or to view an article “map” that shows all subjects and you can just browse at leisure through it. I may include a comments or message board feedback page to see how people respond to this and allow them to debate its merits.
Project Goals
Multimedia is necessary for this project because it will render a personalized article based on the user's preferences, something that cannot be achieved in print. A user will take away from it exactly what they want out of it, since it is their input that determines the output. This project is valuable in an academic context because it provides a new reading method for the future of digital journalism, incorporating both text and multimedia, and also opens discussion about whether users should even have the right to choose their own content at this level.
Project Significance
This project addresses the rapidly expanding field of digital journalism. I imagine that journalists would have many varied opinions on whether a tool like this could hurt or help online journalism, with very strong opinions on both ends. Choosing the categories listed becomes and editorial decision in itself. Future research could be done on how users respond to this tool: do they like it? Or would they rather just read the article as a whole? Outside the university, journalism scholars, as well as anyone involved in marching band or college athletics could be involved.
IV. Timeline
Summer 08- collect data, conduct interviews, gather media, begin work on interface
Fall 08- collect data and media from current football season, continue working on the programming
Spring 09- Write completed article and plug it in to the tool, present.
VI. Confirmed advisors
Steven Johnson,
VII. Presentation and/or distribution plans/venues
IML thesis show, website, possible online collaboration with the Trojan Marching Band or Halftime Magazine
VIII. Production resources
Unsure at this time, will need help learning to program this sort of thing.
IX. Prior related work
Journalism course work at USC’s Annenberg School For Communication, which includes endless discussion on the future of print journalism, Online Journalism course, writing for several different newspapers, editorial internship at Halftime Magazine (The Sights, Sounds, and Spirit of Marching Band Magazine and Online Community)
X. Research bibliography
www.halftimemag.com
Bibliography is limited at his time as most of my research will occur in the summer.
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