Post on 14-Jul-2015
We all know journalism has
changed.
For over 150 years journalists made things like this:
Today, we might share the same information this way:
Same information, new distribution channel.
So, that’s the conceptual shift.
But here is the single-best example I’ve ever seen of how readers have
changed in the last decade…
This was the scene in Rome in 2005 when Pope Bendict was announced:
Just eight years later, this was the same scene when Pope Francis was announced.
(Note the early adopter, rocking that flip phone in 2005.)
So….how does all this change impact our actual storytelling?
Back in an age when information was scarce,
having information alone was powerful.
Today, content is infinite.
But attenion remains finite.
What’s more, we live in an age of feeds.
Email Mobile Alerts Google Search Facebook Twitter Tumblr Pinterest Instagram Snapchat WhatsApp Other
Feeds can be many things
This is now where our stories begin now. And we should care about that as storytellers.
So what kinds of things succeed in this space?
FRIEND’S POST
ALERT!
RUMORFRAGMENT
COMMENTARYJOKES ABOUT
THE NEWS
ARGUMENT
NEWS
CAT PHOTO BABY PICTURE
FUNNY VIDEO
AGGREGATED NEWS
It’s a mix… emotion, awe, anger, postivity, humor, anxiety, surprise, useful information (and sometiems hyperbole).
You can’t control the feed. You can seed the feed.
So then, how do we tell good stories, now?
MYSTERY
TENSION
SURPRISE
SUSPENSE
CHARACTERS
EMOTION
STAKES
DETAILS
EXAMPLES
ANECDOTE PLEASURE
MEANING
CONFLICTFACTS
CLIFFHANGERS
UNIVERSALITY
SELF/IDENTITY REVERSAL
FORMAT
CONTEXT
EXPLAINER
Let’s start by looking at some of the qualities of narrative storytelling we are familiar with.
Most journalists are phenomenal at doing this stuff within our stories.
TENSION EMOTIONCONTEXT
But too often those storytelling muscles wither when our stories move beyond our own publication.
Journalists Often Use Dull Methods to Share Their StoriesSed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo voluptas nulla pariatur?"Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit
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Neglecting that is kind of like dropping a message into a sea of information,
and hoping somebody finds it.
FLOODING THE WORLD
WITH DELICIOUS STORIES to bring meaning and mystery and
surprise to everyone, everyday.
…which is a shame, because instead we could be
Imagine…
MYSTERY
SURPRISE
SUSPENSE
CHARACTERS
EMOTION
DETAILS
UNIVERSALITY
MEANING
FACTS
CLIFFHANGERS
EXAMPLES
….a world where everyone’s feeds were rich with surprise, characters and strong narrative texture.
How can we do that?
1. Get into feeds first.
Lydia Polgreen is one of my amazing colleagues. She’s fantastic at doing this on Twitter.
@lpolgreen
She read this story…
EMOTION
STAKES
DETAILS
And pulled out these powerful, human details for Twitter:
2. Rethink headlines.
This is a lovely headline and package in our print edition.
MYSTERY
PLEASURE
But for the story’s video, a different approach worked better.
3. Meet your audience where they live.
This was an exclusive story & video about an Iraqi soldier who survived an ISIS massacre.
CHARACTERS SUSPENSE EMOTION
A whole team made sure the story was translated into Arabic and promoted on social feeds in the Middle East, and highlighted elements of the survivor’s gripping tale.
4. Help your readers tell the story,
with you.
This page was a package of stories about sex trafficking that had been reported over two decades by Nick Kristof.
The story was promoted through email to just eleven influential people,* but took off on social media.
These stories reached nearly 500,000 readers.
*As part of an experiment run as part of The New York Times 2014 Innovation Report, which has been publicly released.
CHARACTERS
EMOTION
ANECDOTES
MEANING
STAKES
Readers helped tell the story, pulling out the most compelling narrative elements on social media.
1. Get into feeds first.
2. Rethink headlines.
3. Meet your audience where they live. 4. Help your readers tell the story, with you.
Simple ways to start your story:
This is just a short overview to get journalists thinking about how we’ve always spent great time and care crafting the “ledes” or beginnings of our stories.
And now our stories are starting somewhere else.
I believe it’s worth it to journalists to invest equal time and care in the new beginnings of our stories — even if they happen somewhere we don’t specifically control.
While some ideas were presented here, the answers will keep evolving.
IN SUMMARY
@amyolearywww.amyoleary.me
Thanks!
This presentation is a version of one that was originally given at the Power of Storytelling conference in Bucharest, Romania in October 2014.
It is an amazing gathering, full of passionate journalists and storytellers of all stripes, especially the team from Decât o Revistă — one hell of a narrative non-fiction magazine — whose editors have more heart than any team of journalists I’ve encountered in the world.
You should go next year.