Digital Stories

Some of the digital stories put together for Capture Wales are quite magical. But what struck me was how the digital story concept has already perforated our TV and cinema screens thanks to Orange.

In July the mobile phone firm launched a global ad campaign rumoured to cost £90m, using the "I am" slogan as part of its new international brand.



Its simple themes use personal stories and shared experiences to sell a product, showing perfectly how the digital story idea can be diversified to form not only artistic films but also brand promotion.

The Orange campaign also encourages conversations within the community and social interaction off the back of its digital stories, thanks to schemes like RockCorps - a festival that people can only go to if they enroll on an Orange community volunteering scheme beforehand.

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Networked Journalism

With the popular surge in UGC and citizen journalism, providing news content is developing into something of a coalition of the willing.

But without a unique slant on the day's events, how can one news organisation have ownership over its output and avoid being overwhelmed by audience rewrites?

The simple answer is moderation.

The complex response requires a complete adaptation of the newsroom that sees all journalists holding conversations with their key contacts, accepting feedback and stories from their audience, and building a network of sources which feed into the organisation's news output.

Networking is a concept embedded in the DNA of every journalist, so it seems logical that new tools and methods of networking will be embraced and exploited. Yet again, those who don't embrace the new gadgetry could easily find themselves lagging behind their tech-savvy rivals.

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Using UGC

The Zapruder film is perhaps the greatest example of user generated content making headline news. The assassination of President Kennedy was captured by a businessman using a basic camera, and sold to Time-Life magazine for $150,000.


All that's changed since 1963 is the speed with which a piece of UGC makes it on the air. It took the Zapruder film twelve years before it was broadcast on national television, having previously been seen by just a select group of people. Now, it can take seconds for a video or photo that's snapped on a mobile phone to be flashed onto TV screens around the country.


As opposed to conlifcts over taste and decency which held back the broadcast of the Zapruder film, the predominant question that broadcasters and publishers must ponder is whether their piece of UGC merits inclusion in a programme or article. Outlets shouldn't rely on UGC to fill space or pad out a programme; we cannot have UGC for the sake of it.


The London Bombings, Concorde's crash and the Boscastle floods have all proven the effectiveness of UGC. They set a precedent for reliable and unique UGC which deserves a wider audience, without sacrificing the quality or standards of the media outlet.
Watch the Zapruder film below:

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Twitter etc

The fact that services like twitter and mento haven't been hijacked by the pornography market probably explains why they're still a niche on the net. After all, in the battle for high-def DVD, Blue Ray won out because it was backed by every respectable smut-house in the San Fernando Valley.
Yet the ease with which twitter can be integrated into existing news operations means headlines, developing stories and alternative angles can be delivered quickly to a wide audience, without forking out on a big PR push.

The blunt truth remains that only those organisations who embrace developing technology can survive in a news environment driven by user choice and audience interaction. Some are already taking this on board - in commercial radio, for example, the need to send listeners to their websites has actively encouraged editors and management to develop websites that engage with listeners (and target advertising accordingly).

The GCap (now Global) radio group have invested heavily in their online news operation over the last two years, syndicating ITN national and world news in text and video format, and complementing it with locally produced news stories and features. In Wales, compare and contrast Red Dragon in Cardiff with Swansea Bay Radio, and you'll soon spot the online difference.

It's embrace and survive, or reject and be damned. Audiences will choose with their feet, and when viewers and listeners start turning to the web for news, broadcasters have to make sure they're already there.

Image courtesy ComicBase @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/comicbase/2531094926/

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