print this articleHow long should “it” be?
Now that scores of journalists are producing stories in new forms - especially photo galleries, audio slideshows and video - one question that’s become prevalent is “how long should it be?”
My feeling is these new forms should follow the formula most journalists apply to a written news story: how much do you need to tell the story? It’s true most newspapers have an average length for a basic news story (maybe around 15 inches) and will develop such a benchmark for audio slideshows (10-12 photos, each playing for 5-10 seconds) and video (3 minutes). But occasionally there will be stories that merit longer treatment and journalists - especially during this early period of experimentation - should give the story what it deserves.
The great thing about the electronic medium is that it’s so measureable. So if your audience can - or can’t - tolerate longer multimedia, you’ll know by the numbers of downloads and views. Then you can adjust your practices accordingly.
It’s all part of the evolution of news playing out before us.
Posted by MarkBriggs on Tuesday, March 06, 2007
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