This is our nod to transparency, where each News21 fellow or team explains what you did, why you did it — and what others can do to take your approach to the next level.
Our goal is to well-crafted explanation of how and why you did your project in the manner you did, concentrating especially on what you did in an innovative manner so that it might be refined or replicated in the industry.
Think about it as Coulda-Shoulda-Woulda. You can link to some of your early blog posts that may tell a bit about what you did. But then you should explain your early strategy on how you set about doing your journalism. And now, knowing what you know, you can summarize from lessons learned what you would have done differently. And finally, offer tips for people to learn from your innovation and how they can possibly incorporate it into their journalism. You can also spice it up with screengrabs or photos.
Recently, I noticed Propublica’s “Steal Our Code” explainer for its ChangeTracker feature and the Toronto Star’s nerdbox, accompanying its series on mapping data. Those details and tips are what other journalists will find of great value.
For instance, UNC fellows Monica Ulmanu described her process in skinning a video player programmed by Zach Ferriola-Bruckenstein, who explained how it allows users to search for certain phrases in a video. An overarching post will summarize the challenges and victories in the process, and showcase examples in the “Powering a Nation” project. In fact, can this paragraph be turned into a post? Pretty nearly, topped by a sharp, relevant SEO-savvy headline.
Given the power of tags, we can do a lot to let people know about your work via automation. When you complete your post, please tag it with at least one of the categories (let me know if you require a different one).
approach | databases | design | infographics | interactives | interviewing | packaging | photography | presentation | reporting | social media | tools | video | writing
Remember, the greater detail you can provide, the better.