InterACTIVITY

Interactivity is something that is becoming increasingly important for journalistic websites. Users want it all: graphics, audio, sound...plus extras. One way journalistic websites cam incorporate interactivity is through Macromedia Flash Player. Flash allows journalists to use information in a new way, making it more likely that a user will come back to their site.

For example, the site Planet in Peril, which is special environmental coverage from CNN.com uses Flash to report on environmental issues. Their site incorporates high-tech graphics, such as an image of the globe that users can click on to learn about issues in specific regions. Once a user clicks on a place on the globe they are taken to another page that uses video. Many websites that aren't journalistic in nature use Flash and journalistic sites could learn from their example. By using all types of media in a way that catches the eye of the viewer, journalistic websites can appeal to as many people as possible.

Interactive games are another way to help journalistic websites appeal to users. Once users interact with information they will gain a better understanding of it because they actively have to participate. Once I played the Enron Blame Game, mentioned in the text, I gained a better understanding of the Enron scandal in general, even though it happened a few years ago. Journalistic websites could do something similar with the upcoming presidential elections. A game could be made where users have to match the candidates to their views. This way users would learn more than if they were simply reading a story and they would be having fun, too.

Flash player would have come in very handy with previous work I have done in previous courses. For example, two years ago I wrote a story on soda being banned from schools. With Flash I could have used video of officials discussing why soda should be banned, graphics that show the nutritional value of soda, audio clips of key quotes and interactive games where users could take polls on whether soda should remain in schools or games where they could guess the healthiness of certain foods. These features would help advance the story because readers would feel like they were a part of it. By allowing readers to see video, listen to audio, and interact in general, websites are giving the reader a choice to learn more than they ever could in a standard newspaper. Readers shouldn't just be sitting reading a story where they had no choices. They should interact with the information and thus better absorb it.