New Tech for New Media @newtechnewmedia - Tumblr Blog

Liz Sawyer_Vision Paper

Even before attending Newhouse, people told me what a poor decision it was for me to major in journalism. Professional reporters urged me to switch my major and pursue a career path that was more secure and not undergoing rapid changes every few years. But, as a "green" 18-year-old, I ignored their disapproval, constantly reminding myself that the industry was merely changing, not dying.

Four years later — and mere hours from graduation — I still believe that to be true. However, my experiences have also taught me that the current journalistic model cannot sustain itself if it doesn't evolve with the technology around it. People (including Millennials) still desire and consume news at a rapid pace — arguably faster than ever before. Social media and online platforms deliver news instantly. This increases the publics' ability to consume news, as well as their ability to consume information that is false. In many ways, it acts as a double edged sword. My concern for the future is that technology will continue to increase the amount of misinformation available.

I've heard many people argue that technology will soon replace reporters and photographers altogether. Inventions such as the Autographer, which snaps photos based on what it deems "interesting," and computer-generated news articles, provide a sort of artificial intelligence in the field of news gathering. The latter uses software to take data, like sports statistics and financial reports, and turn it into a cohesive story. What originally started a formulaic attempt has (scarily) evolved into something much more accurate.

Despite these impressive —albeit worrisome — advances, I truly don't believe that human journalists will be cast aside in favor of robotic ones. This is because people are necessary to communicate with one another. Sure, we can have a legitimate conversation with Siri on our SmartPhones, but a computer can't sympathize or love a human (at least not yet). Without those innately human characteristics, it's nearly impossible to have masterful reporting and writing.

However, this is not to say that all technological advances won't affect the industry in a positive way. The idea of drones used to scare me and evoke a series of Big Brother/privacy concerns. But the more I learn about them, the more excited I become about their future prospects in news gathering. As soon as companies can fix their image problem, drones will revolutionize the way journalists cover war, sports, environmental crises and other disasters. Images will be clearer because the devices can get much closer to the event than humans, which means they may save lives by removing reporters from dangerous areas.

Even non-dangerous events would benefit from their footage. A few weeks ago, drones carrying GoPro cameras filmed MayFest (was that you?!) The resulting shots were spectacular and a whole new way to view the campus-wide student party. FAA restrictions may eventually become an issue in getting drones off the ground for news organizations, but I foresee reporters/operators getting some sort of certification to legally fly them for media use.

In the next 10 years, virtual technologies like Oculus Rift may also serve as a leading reporting tool. The ability to revisit brief scenes of important events is no small feat, but if accomplished, would be highly coveted. The opportunity for reader interactivity would skyrocket! However, I think the Oculus Rift has many improvements to make before it can reach its full potential. Within only two minutes of using the Rift myself I developed a full blown migraine. Somehow the virtual world will have to become even more realistic (not just 4D).

Overall, I'm optimistic about the rapidly changing journalistic landscape. It just seems that, more than ever, novice journalists have to be up for anything and everything. I will like be learning how to use new tools each and every day.

Extended lab - StoryMap JS

By Liz Sawyer

This semester in particular I've enjoyed learning about the Knight Lab's interactive storytelling tools. In DataViz, we played around with Timeline.JS where users can turn ordinary, dull text timelines into searchable, extendable timelines with photo and video capabilities. I'd heard a lot about the new StoryMap system and wanted to experiment making a data timeline that involved maps to assist in storytelling. What I found was an incredibly useful device to illustrate trends around the country.

As a news reporter, I wanted to choose data that was both timely and important for readers to continue thinking about. School shootings have dominated the national media since the Sandy Hook elementary tragedy last year. What the general public probably doesn't realize, though, is that there have been at least 44 more school shootings since the Newtown massacre that killed 20 children and six adults.

And even more recently, a 17-year-old boy planning to set off bombs in his Waseca, Minnesota school was stopped before he could carry out his scheme. That was Sunday.

For this reason, I chose to map the deadliest school shootings in U.S history for my extended lab assignment. I used data from USA today and other news outlets to determine school shootings with the highest fatality and injury counts dating back to 1966.

Inputing the information into StoryMap was surprisingly intuitive, especially for someone who isn't super tech savvy like me. I liked the clean display of the photo and event description next to the "roadmap" feature. My only beef with the program was that it didn't allow you to upload videos in place of photos. This would be a useful function for events/stories that require a more detailed explanation and would benefit from multimedia capabilities.

The finished product was more appealing to me than even an interactive timeline, like Timeline JS, because it allows the user to geographically track data. In my case, you can clearly see that school shootings aren't confined to one particular region of the country, although there seem to be fewer (of the deadlier shootings) in the Southwest and on the West Coast.

Editor's note: Had I tracked all mass killings and not just those confined to schools, there would be an exceedingly large amount in Colorado. I don't know why that is, but research shows that state has more.

Here's the link to my StoryMap:

http://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/storymapjs/latest/embed/?url=https://www.googledrive.com/host/0B1QuvbZgTZmYcjFBbGJQaGc5WkE/published.json

#storymap #school shooting #newtown #virginiatech #knightlab

Alexandra Bauman Extended Lab: Barack Obama Presidential Trips 2009-2014

For my extended lab, I worked with the Knight Lab’s open source Story Map tool to create a guided map of President Obama’s international trips while in office.

Upon learning Story Map, I have realized some of the many opportunities it provides journalists. In showing location visually and spatially, audiences can better comprehend timelines and maps. I hypothesized that if an audience read of Obama’s trips by zooming from place to place on a map, and seeing the flag pop up with each destination, they will better understand his travel patterns and more frequented destinations. Additionally, they can notice neglected areas of travel.

In my Story Map, I put a pin in each city Obama traveled to chronologically. As the reader scrolls through, they will see the date, duration, location, flag and reason for the trip. It is a quick way to see where Obama has been during his time in office, and more importantly, where he has not. The way in which flags and cities flash boldly across the screen leave a greater impact with readers, who by the end of their “journey” can note for example “I saw the South Korean flag often,” or “I never saw an Argentinean flag.”

By moving across the map, readers can also better see how far the president travels and how often. For example, if he is touring countries South America for a week, or traveling from China to Canada in a day.

I am very happy with how my story map turned out, and will use it in future coverage of Obama’s diplomatic travels. I will be able to find patterns more easily as where he travels often, and can more confidently declare where I believe he needs to travel next.

View my Story Map here:

http://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/storymapjs/latest/embed/?url=https://www.googledrive.com/host/0B7AGRhfKAvNmM2NZWUs1c0k5bzQ/published.json

Vanessa Foster - Open Source

To be honest, open source was the new technology that I was the least excited to learn about. I've heard about open source before, particularly from my computer programming friends, but I find it hard to get interested in it until it's in a form that someone who's programming illiterate can easily use it. And if I have an idea for how it could be better, I feel guilty asking someone with more skills to figure out how to do it while I can only contribute my critique.

However, I can definitely see the benefits of it. One of my friends constantly uses open source software for her 3D animation and illustration. She likes that it's free and there's an entire community out there eager to add to the communal knowledge pool. This sort of thinking could really make technologies develop faster if they are worked on by several people from all sorts of backgrounds.

Open source definitely takes production out of the hands of a few big companies and puts it back into the hands of the people. Instead of being limited by what's on the market, out creativity is only limited by what we can come up with as a community. Personally, I would just feel bad about my inability to truly contribute to the development stages of the open source community.

Vanessa Foster - Airborne Cameras

When I first heard about GoPros, I thought that it was the perfect progression for videography. People always want to document things that would be too costly or dangerous for a regular camera (Once I tried taking a film camera on a sledding trip). Nowadays, flyable drones seems like the next logical step, taking these cameras to new heights and making flashy filming more affordable for the rest of us.

I've seen drones sneak in to popular media here and there, a hopeful sign that they are starting to become more of a common idea. In a MTV show my sister watches, the local news was using drones to follow their subjects into a school building. Granted, there was probably some legal issues with the action but the fact that drones are being presented as a potential media tool is exciting.

Outside of traditional media, people on the internet have found all sorts of uses for flyable cameras. A couple I watch on youtube have their own home improvement show, and they used a drone to film cool aerial shots for their opening sequence. Years ago that would have only been possible with a helicopter rental and completely outside of their budget. But now they can produce a high quality show exactly how they want it at a fraction of the cost.

I really hope that people will be able to use drones for commercial purposes soon. There are so many potential uses for cheap aerial photography that it would be a shame to have it hindered by bureaucracy. Personally, I get excited thinking about all the potential footage I could get for my documentaries

Open Source - LK

I really enjoyed this week's class discussing open source networking and video chatting with Dan Schultz. What really stuck with me from this class, on March 25th, was the ability to have a "fly on the wall in Congress" and to incorporate text grabbers to syndicate information to the masses. During the class's video chat with Schultz, I imagined a NGO such as 350.org, Green Peace, or the Sierra Club to buy a text grabber and use it to pull text that relates to key words such as "climate change", "water", "energy", "oil", and "pollution." This could be distributed on a live feed on one of the website's or incorporated in their social media posts. I imagine this could be used as a way to have a live update on what politicians are saying in real time to allow individuals to be up to date about what is being discussed in Washington as well as giving them accurate information for calling individuals out on social media. This would also be extremely beneficial just for knowing what is going on in real time around these issues.

There could also be physical representation of this technology via an EPA sponsored LED wall of politician's quotes around the key words listed above. This could be installed in public places or on public school property as a way to update the public on the following topics in order to promote conversation amongst citizens and elected officials around environment issues.

#ntnm #opensource #EPA

Waveables - LK

With the ability for "waveable" screens to be placed pretty much everywhere, anywhere can turn into an immersive environment. As an advertising major, I am trained to think of how can I get a person to interact and engage with a content for the longest time possible and where are people already lingering or taking a long time doing normal day-to-day activities. If possible, it would be ideal to place media there, in places where people are already spending lots of time and are not being exposed to media.

For the purpose of this blog post, I will use a public restroom as a possible environment to add waveable technology. Everyone who uses a restroom needs to wash their hands, right? But where is this water coming from.. and how is it getting to the restroom.. and where is it going once it is down the drain? Many people, who are not environmentally conscious like myself, do not think of water in this way, especially in a public restroom; however, with water scarcity becoming more mainstream and talked about around the world, this narrative is going to become critical in the near future.

Imagine if part of the bathroom mirror, I'm envisioning quite a large public restroom similar to one in Newhouse or Schine, where part of the mirror is a waveable wall that is showing the individual how much water they used (when washing their hands) and where it is going and coming from. Perhaps it is possible to even add an incentive for individuals who use less water, turning the faucet on and off as they soap their hands, by creating log in info / signing in / etc. Perhaps there could even be a system of all restrooms with this technology and once a individual steps foot in one it automatically recognizes them (via their cell phone or some device) and that way it is easier to track someone's water usage as well as keeping track of their usage for a possible prize. This concept is very similar to "gamification" via waveable technology and will help in creating a more conscious society.

#ntnm #waveables #waterusage

Wearables - LK

a) How you felt as the wearable-camera interviewer.

I actually did not wear the camera during the activity, but I noticed it made conversation easier for my teammates. Instead of having to hold a device and speak to the interviewer, my teammates were able to communicate face to face without any interference.

b) How did the subject react, positively or negatively?

The subjects acted both positively and negatively and indifferent. Most of them found the camera to be cool and interesting, however, many of them could not find an instance where he or she would use that device in their own lives. Also, a few subjects were considered with the price of the camera and the durability. None of them seemed to love the device and want it immediately because they already have a handheld smartphone camera.

c) How did the presence of the technology affect the story?

The presence of the technology helped us recruit people to interview because we had it with us and they were indirectly interacting with it.

d) What improvements would you make to the technology, or the approach, to improve its use for news gathering?

The presence of the technology could have been more improved. It would have been cool to have a life feed of what the camera was taking on a phone or tablet in order to demonstrate the process of the new technology and the kind of photographs it produces.

e) Think ahead 5 years. How will this technology be used in journalism and media? How will it / should it evolve to address problems you ran into?

I think this technology has a lot of potential to allow the journalist to be more hands on, in terms of reporting and using other devices to calculate data instead of using their hands to take photographs. This device could potentially take the place of a photojournalist role, once the camera is more advanced. I feel like it may be used to also face recognize individuals for a reporter. For example, if a reporter is covering a music festival, the camera would be able to face recognize all individuals whose photograph appears on Facebook, etc. so that the reporter can comfortably address each artists/band member without having to double check or worry if he or she is calling them by the wrong name.

#ntnm #ntnm wearabletech autographer newhouse

Citizen Science 3/18 Blog Post - LK

Citizen science is a very interesting concept that is quite powerful if harnessed the right way. With oil and nuclear spills happening on a daily basis, millions of tons of plastic pollution swerving through our oceans, and constant release of CO2 into the atmosphere, we are facing life-threatening problems. Many people are aware of “global warming” and “climate change” but the urgency to change action and use our rights as consumers and voters is not be utilized.

I would like to create a site that combines citizen science with a social networking platform geared towards creating communities of active conscious citizens. This site will produce media content that is fair and unbiased, presenting merely the facts so that a user can vote on what they find to be of “Top Priority.” Once something gets into “TP” users can see what “Social Actions” they can take, which will focus on how to be a part of the solution vs. the problem. The idea of this website would be to create an online network for real social change by uniting people on the premise of using their digital and tangible voice in the form of social media posts and voting.

#ntnm

Extended Lab - LK

For my extended lab, I had planned to host Lorne Covington of NoirFlux for Students of Sustainability at Syracuse University's Mural Unveiling event on April 25th at Hungry Chuck's Cafe on S. Crouse. Unfortunately, due to the rainy weather Lorne had to cancel on me last minute so my extended lab actually never happened.

We had planned to set up in on either the Brueggers wall in that alley way next to the mural or on the blank wall of Funk n' Waffles, since the screen has to be projected on a blank wall for optimal effects. I had also planned to bring my Jambox and play electronic music (Daft Punk, Duck Sauce, Flume, Ratatat, etc.). The manager of Chuck's was very supportive of this idea, so hopefully we will be able to pull it off in the fall.

I wanted to bring Lorne to campus and use this technology as an activity for the event to raise awareness for SOSatSU and to also celebrate Mayfest/Blockparty since the projection was going to be "Dancing Light," which is currently on display at the MOST museum in Armory Square. Since Lorne and I had coordinated this somewhat last minute, there was not enough time to create new, environmental skewed graphics for the projector. However, as Public Relations Director for Students of Sustainability next year, I hope to utilize this technology and Lorne's willingness to help us and incorporate visuals that reflect climate change and/or ocean pollution for outdoor art installations.

For the Mural Unveiling party, I primarily wanted to tie Noirflux in just to see how people reacted to the screen for research on future art installation events. Does the screen increase people's likelihood to attend the event and engage with SOSatSU? Should we incorporate this into more of our events in the future? Can it be used as a learning mechanism?

Based on my previous experience taking non-Newhouse friends to see Lorne's exhibit at MOST, I assumed that people going to the bars would be amused by the screens and would most likely interact with it and ask questions. Because of this, I figured (as an advertising major), this would be a great way to promote the club as well as our Sustainable Art Project (S.A.P.) initiative. The mural was created to 1) create art from trash 2) beautify the city 3) promote SOSatSU as a whole and 4) inspire people into action. Members of SOSatSU strongly believe that art has the power to make people think and empower more so than holding meetings or getting students to attend a specific film screening or lecture, etc. As SOSatSU establishes themselves, we want to use more art installations to help people remember that we are all just humans living on this planet and it is important to do our part to protect it and want to protect it for personal and planetary health.

I hope to accomplish this next year, as I mentioned earlier.

I invite you all to check out the mural outside of Chucks! See image below:

#NTNM noirflux artinteraction #SOSatSU #SAP

The Future

Call me old fashioned but, for me, adhering to the basic principles of truth seeking, evenhandedness and sensitivity will always form the core of good journalism. That being said, I understand that in today's ever-changing technological landscape, journalism, too, must change. New Tech New Media exposed me to a myriad ways in which journalism can potentially change for the better. At the same time each potentially positive change raises professional and ethical dilemmas that make me wonder if new technology could potentially corrode the age-old ethical practices that underly journalism.

Google Glass. Ten years from now, I envision Google Glass changing not how information is gathered but, more so, how it's consumed. I think the glasses are tooled toward making news consumption interactive. With the possibility of heightened reader interaction, I think the responsibility of developing innovative story ideas that can be consumed through Google Glass falls on the shoulders of reporters. Content that would better engage glass-wearing readers could include long form stories that contain elements of motion — The New York Times' interactive Snowfall piece, for example.

Drone technology. In terms of gathering reporting and perspectives from difficult to reach places — fly-over coverage of a marathon, for example — drone technology has the potential, I think, to change the landscape of reporting by granting journalists access to previously unattainable spaces in the next ten years. On the other hand, and we've witnessed this already, incorporating drone technology broaches questions of privacy. I'm willing to wager than more stringent federal aviation guidelines as well as invasion of privacy provisions will be refined in an attempt to curtail overuse of drone technology for reporting and commercial uses. FAA regulations on drone use have been well-chronicled, especially in this class, but I think invasion of privacy issues — that is, where drone use can fly, who it can capture on film and when will test this area of communications law.

Autographer. Reporting on any event requires keen attention to detail. I can see the autographer helping advance that purpose. During a protest, for example, snapping shots with the autographer could help serve that purpose. Given the size and relative cost, I could see the autographer being placed in newsroom in greater numbers and quicker than most of the other technologies discussed over the course of NTNM.

Oculus Rift. Virtual technology, if developed with more precision and accuracy, could serve as an important journalism tool. Ten years from now, I could envision myself using Oculus Rift technology to revisit places for brief observational reporting purposes. If I have an impending deadline and need to add color to an otherwise routine, daily newspaper piece, I could see myself strapping on the Oculus Rift, briefly venturing to another place and incorporating visual details into my piece. Of course, with this technology particularly, issues of accuracy are raised. The potential for error in replicating the fine grain details of a place could undermine the practical uses of the Rift.

Extended lab - StoryMap JS

By Debbie Truong

Being a more hard news-oriented person, I'm drawn to stories that upset audiences' conception of how the world should, under ideal circumstances, function. Grim though it may sound, news deals in the business of tragedy and human despair. And, for readers, it's easy to get bogged down by the sheer amount of downright bleak and painful content that inundates newspapers and television screens. But that isn't reason to avoid or forget news, altogether — rather, I think that it's the duty of reporters to think up innovative ways of conveying often unpalatable information. That's why, for the extended lab assignment, I decided to map a list of the deadliest earthquakes in 2013 in an attempt to provide a visually significant way of remembering events that tend to cycle out of readers' memories.

Here is the link to my map: http://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/storymapjs/latest/embed/?url=https://www.googledrive.com/host/0B_g1ZTTRg5lDNVFRaHZWeWNkWGs/published.json

Overall, compiling and inputting the information into StoryMap JS was relatively simple. I enjoyed the simple interface and appreciated the different detailing options that allowed me to style the background color and upload photos with relative ease. I found the experience fairly intuitive for never having worked with StoryMap JS. Also, for the type of content I wanted to display — information that's very much date and place-driven, StoryMap served that purpose well. There are minor tweaks or additions I'd propose. I think it would be helpful to incorporate a pop-out video component for newsier pieces that may require additional multimedia in order to better detail a story. Also, I wish it was possible to view the map independent of the half-page description — a simple minimize/maximize option would be helpful. All in all, though, I enjoyed the easy, do-it-yourself interface and the map's ultimate look.

Of the handful of people I surveyed, my StoryMap was relatively well-received. Most enjoyed my attempt to display information in a less traditional, more interactive way. Specifically, the navigation from one plotted point to another seemed to appeal to those I spoke with. One improvement voiced that I agree with is having an option that would allow the user to enlarge the photo accompanying the text.

All in all, my experience with StoryMap for the extended lab assignment was a positive one. Instead of a static list or over-used slideshow, StoryMap served as a medium that's both visually interesting, functional and sensitive for displaying content that's more severe in tone.

Vanessa’s Visions of the Future

Recently, I spoke with a friend of mine about possibly flying drone with a GoPro for class.

“What’s a GoPro?” she asked.

I was floored. I couldn’t understand how someone had not heard of something so revolutionary and game changing to the communication field. To be fair, she’s an art major, so she doesn’t really follow the tech news. But I had assumed by this point that knowledge of the GoPro would’ve trickled down to the ears of regular people. I guess when you’re so close to the news of innovative technologies you can fail to realize what it appears like to the rest of the population.

Take drones for example. I’ve gotten so used to referring to quadcopters as drones, but my friends have only head of them in reference to military in the news. I’m constantly educating others on what new terminology I’m using. All of this has me wondering: How long will it be before all the “new” technology we’ve learned about becomes commonplace, and how will that affect my ability to use them in documentary?

I definitely can see waveables becoming the next big stage in digital interfaces. In only a few short years everyone in the country is used to touch screens and they even make appearances in public venues. Even now kids are playing motion based games at home and on their mobile devices. It’s not too far of a stretch to imagine a future where we become accustomed to waving our arms around to get responses from our surroundings. Instead of using remotes and controllers, we could use our televisions and computers with just our voices and gestures. This is an advancement that I am very excited to see developed, and would love to apply it to the work I could do as a filmmaker. As more people get used to motion based interfaces, I could create documentaries that use this iteration. A piece could be completely nonlinear and the viewer has to use their bod t navigate throughout the story, maybe even have an effect on the outcome.

Google glass is an innovation that could possibly face some resistance. People are very aware of the camera that may or may not be recording them, and there could even be an outcry against people wearing them in certain locations. However, look how quickly we’ve grown accustomed to cameras being everywhere. Nowadays people don’t bat an eye to a person taking pictures or even “vlogging” in public. There’s just the assumption that you won’t use that technology to butt into their business. On the other hand, cameras like the Autographer could be seen an even more intrusive. They so inconspicuous that many don’t even notice them. Cameras like that could probably be used in story gathering in sensitive locations, where the presence of a more conspicuous device (like cameras or Google glass) would be counter-productive.

Sensors would be a grew asset for data gathering. Before sensors, reporters and filmmakers would have to get their statistical or scientific information from the government or other organizations. Sensor journalism frees them from that obligation, and opens these organizations to fact checking. This would give filmmakers the chance to obtain information for themselves, rather than just be fed news from an official source. And this could even lead to people becoming more involved with the content that they will eventually watch themselves. This crowdsourcing of information also happens with open source code. Once these technologies are more common, more an more people would be able to contribute to the process of telling stories, taking the information out of the hands of the big corporations.

A lot of these new technologies are looked at with fear and uncertainty, but that is the reaction to almost all new innovations. And rarely do these new technologies turn out as horribly as people feared. Once people become more accustomed to things like googol glass and camera drones (and the government eases up the regulations on their use) we we’ll definitely see a increase in their use across the communications field.

Vanessa Foster - StoryMap Lab

So I've been doing research lately on the clothing industry, its' supply chain, and its' effect on the environment. After all of the research was done, I struggled with coming up with a way to display it that was interesting and not too word heavy. I'm a very visual person, so a traditional article was just not going to work for me. Plus I wanted it to be really interactive as well. Cue StoryMap!

I was able to map out the clothing manufacturing supply chain, and could easily add tidbits here and there. I filled the StoryMap with the images I had collected and plotted a course that hopped all over the globe. It was a very effective way of demonstrating the scope of my story, much better than similar maps done with Google Maps.

The benefits of Story Map over Google Maps include the ability to customize your display (to an extent). You can pick the filter for the map display, along with background colors and images. You can feature photos or videos with each pin along the way. If you're more code savvy, could can play with the html under the advanced settings.

It does have some drawbacks however. I noticed I didn't have control over how zoomed in the map was at different points. I also experimented with the embed code to see if I could add it to a website or iBooks. I was able to get it to work on Blogger, Not so much in iBooks, but that may be Apple's problem. As for Tumblr? Well, see the end of the post.

Here's some of the feedback I received:

"I really like the interface. It's attractive, lots of pictures"

"It's a little difficult to navigate the map, which is kinda annoying"

"I prefer it to reading a paper"

Overall, StoryMaps is a very cool piece of open source technology. It uses existing source material to create something extremely useful. Depending on the story, I think StoryMaps could be a very useful tool in communications.

Experience my StoryMap for yourself:

(See the full version HERE)

Google Glass & Newsgathering

I recently read an article on Guardian Liberty Voice about how binge drinking has resurfaced the debate over the drinking age. The article talks about how having four drinks in less than two hours is considered binge drinking. If this is the data that the public is going off of, that college students are drinking four drinks in under two hours, they are completely ill informed. I believe that most college students drink far more than four drinks in two hours. I decided to, boldly, take Google Glass out to a frat party to test this hypothesis. I wanted to really observe the drinking habits of the students to see if they do in fact, defy the binge drinking standard of four drinks in two hours.

I found that “shotgunning” was extremely popular among almost everyone I encountered. Shotgunning is when you puncture a hole in a beer can so that when you open the tab the liquid flows out very quickly. Essentially, it is finishing a beer in less than four seconds. The two guys I observed in particular stayed in the same area of the frat and invited anyone who entered their general vicinity to shotgun with them- and not one person turned them down. The boys shotgunned seven beers each in less than twenty minutes. This is well beyond the standard of “binge drinking.”

Another thing I observed was “power hour” this is when students take a shot of beer every minute for an hour. Once the hour has gone by, each participant will have consumed approximately eight beers. Google glass was extremely helpful in this observation. I was able to Google how many ounces are in a shot (1.5), and how many ounces are in a beer (12). From this I was able to calculate that drinking 1.5 ounces every minute for sixty minutes equates to almost eight beers. Without this shocking information, that each of these students, almost all of whom were petite women, were going to drink eight beers in one hour, I wouldn’t have realized the importance of capturing the footage and observing the outcome. Glass makes searching the web fast and simple. The time it takes for Glass to bring up a web page is faster than a smart phone.

Glass took great photos and made searching the web for information to support my story easy. However, there were a lot of downfalls to Glass. The main thing that hindered my newsgathering was the fact that Glass had a very hard time picking up what I was saying inside the noisy frat house. I had to cup my hands over my mouth to direct my voice more towards the glasses and even that took a few tries until Glass was able to detect I was speaking to it. Another issue I came across was the fact that when I wanted to find information on the web I had to vocalize what I wanted to search for. This wasn’t a problem for me in my environment but I can image in certain situations journalists would not want those around them to hear what they are looking up, or perhaps are in a silent environment where talking wouldn’t be appropriate. However, I was impressed but how easily Glass recognized what I was saying (when I was in a more quiet area). The voice recognition was exceptional, better than anything else I’ve used such as the iPhone’s Siri. As soon as I said, “take a picture” a high quality photo was taken without any lag time.

In conclusion, this lab taught me that Glass could have the potential to be a useful technology, but not particularly for journalism. Everyone was extremely taken back by the fact that I was wearing the glasses, which completely disrupted the natural environment I was attempting to observe. Until society becomes desensitized to the advanced technology, Google Glass will not be a successful tool for observational journalists.

LIZZY KAHN - VISION PAPER

New technology can help people visualize and better understand personal, communal, and national consumption of natural resources in order to better conserve and, ultimately, be conscious consumers. This will be necessary in the future due to natural resource depletion as well as climate change. It will be in the public’s best interest to understand consumption, where things are made and from what materials, and if this can be executed with tools and distributed in public spaces and/or online than it has the power to change culture and peoples perceptions.

Imagine if everyone had a device or chip inside them that tracked your water waste and the amount of carbon being emitted or taken in by your actions – what you buy at the food store to how you transport yourself? What if this device was through the government or a social networking platform that fed you to various brands/ organizations to assist you in becoming a sustainable consumer? Technology to better the world and media to make people smarter and more empowered to tackle global issues is what I am interested in spending time on.

When Dirk Swart came into class earlier this semester he touched on how Air Quality Egg, a product that measures certain chemicals that create air pollution, is creating a community of shared data. This concept of personally owning equipment to be more knowledgeable and, ultimately, hold the government and other bodies in authority accountable interests me – but I think it can be taken to the next level. I think a new kind of online community, where people can actually communicate with the people in their local environment as well as government officials and private business owners (whether corporate or local) can create a new way of looking at issues and how to best solve them.

I believe conscious consumers can cut costs in the long run, which is a major benefit for both the private and public sector. If personalized data recorders, as I mentioned above, were to be incorporated in some kind of public gamification software – where individuals get rewarded for acting in a certain way – than the possibility of creating a sustainable-minded culture is endless.

In the future, water shortages, pollution, food, energy, and climate will be the world’s biggest concerns and the media will need to reflect this and help people find solutions. Right now, we have the technology to communicate with all of the entities I previously mentioned but it is not being done – for many reasons I will not go into. The difference between the opportunity that lies now and the future is that the future these problems will be happening and media – data collecting – will need to assist people in surviving and adapting to changes.

Perhaps people will be taking photos and sharing their “conscious consumption” device/tracker and the energy they saved that day instead of a delicious meal via Instagram. Maybe there will be billboards of the energy produced that day by pads people wear on their feet that wirelessly power their devices, lights on the street, or home? Hopefully, new technology will create media devices and platforms that enable a more conscious society to evolve and tackle world issues.

Extended Lab

By Jonathan Gault

Introduction

I was extremely interested in the StoryMap program Ryan Graff introduced us to in class and I decided that I wanted to use it for my extended lab project. I’ve always liked geography and the ability to click around maps – I wanted to see if I could apply that interest and create something that others would enjoy, too. First, I had to decide on a project. I thought about something that would fit StoryMap’s mode of storytelling and quickly thought of the Stanley Cup. Every summer after the Stanley Cup is awarded, each player from the winning team gets to spend one day with the cup. Usually, the player takes it to his hometown, which means that the cup ends up racking up a lot of miles, since that many NHL players hail from Europe. I settled on tracking the Stanley Cup’s journey during the summer of 2013 via StoryMap.

Hypothesis

Essentially, I wanted to find out if StoryMap could be a more compelling mode of storytelling than a traditional blog and if so, why. Obviously this is very difficult to definitively prove, but at the very least, I wanted to see if StoryMap projects are a form of storytelling that people are interested in. I should note here that my topic lends itself particularly well to StoryMap, since it is about a far-reaching journey. Not all stories are well-suited for StoryMap. But that’s not really what I was interested in showing. I wanted to see if stories with an obvious geographic/journey component are more compelling when viewed through StoryMap.

Methods

I created my StoryMap project (can be viewed here: http://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/storymapjs/latest/embed/?url=https://www.googledrive.com/host/0B1nJfhRue4FvQWJCZXVMY09NTTg/published.json) and posted it to the NHL subreddit on Reddit (http://www.reddit.com/r/nhl/comments/230i19/i_mapped_out_the_stanley_cups_journey_last_summer/) and Chicago Blackhawks forum Indianhead Nation (the Blackhawks won the cup in 2013, so it was their journey I mapped out: http://www.indianheadnation.com/topic/5896-i-made-a-map-of-the-stanley-cups-journeys-last-summer/#entry225749). I also emailed the project to my fellow Sports Communications Emphasis grad students at Newhouse since they are all familiar with several different types of storytelling. I created a survey and asked readers to compare my StoryMap project to NHL.com’s Summer with Stanley blog (http://www.nhl.com/ice/blog.htm?id=1884). This was the blog I used for most of my source material and felt that it would be the best site to compare it to since I would be using mostly the same information, only presented in a different way.

The survey featured eight questions:

-Which version do you prefer?

-(If you answered Storymap above): Why do you prefer the Storymap version?

-(If you answered Summer with Stanley above): Why do you prefer the Summer with Stanley version?

-Which is easier to navigate? -What do you like about the Storymap version?

-What do you dislike about the Storymap version?

-What needs to be improved on the Storymap version?

-Would you like to see more Storymap projects in the future?

I felt that these questions covered the main areas I wanted to address in my hypothesis: is StoryMap a better platform for map-based storytelling, and the reasons if that proved to be the case. I also wanted to learn how StoryMap could be improved moving forward.

Results

Unfortunately, because the completing the survey involved more than a few seconds (since the responders had to look through both my StoryMap project and the NHL.com blog), I only got eight responses, a lot fewer than I had hoped. So while it’s difficult to draw definitive conclusions from a sample that small, I still think the insights are interesting, particularly since the responders were either Blackhawks fans or sports-focused Newhouse grad students – i.e. people who would be interested in the subject material.

All eight of the respondents preferred the StoryMap version. Six respondents replied that they liked the graphic/visual elements of StoryMap, while three enjoyed the interactive elements (respondents were allowed to list more than one reason). Seven of the eight respondents also stated that the StoryMap version was easier to navigate, while two added that they enjoyed the fact that they did not need to scroll back and forth to navigate – all they had to do was click on the arrows or a location on the map.

The main areas cited for improvement were ones that already exist on StoryMap – I just didn’t choose to include them in my project. Some wanted more text or pictures of the player with the cup itself; others wanted accompanying video. StoryMap is capable of adding these components, so it should be good for the platform’s storytelling capabilities that the biggest improvements they were asked to make already exist in the program. One respondent did refer to the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Stanley Cup blog (http://www.hhof.com/htmlSTCjournal/exSCJ_2013.shtml) as an even better example of storytelling, citing its extensive pictures and captions. The ability to add multiple pictures for the same location is something StoryMap currently lacks and would probably be my biggest suggestion of an area to improve. Finally, all eight respondents answered that they would like to see more StoryMap projects in the future – another strong sign for the program’s viability.

Conclusions

I must again serve a reminder that these conclusions are based on only eight responses (and my personal experience creating the project). But overall, my hypothesis was supported: for geographic/map-friendly stories, StoryMap offers a more compelling mode of storytelling than a traditional blog. Its interactivity and the viewer’s ability to quickly jump from location to location without scrolling makes it much more easier to navigate than a blog, where you have to scroll down and sometimes leave the page to see older stories. It also serves a dual purpose as both graphic and platform – whereas you could track the journey of the Stanley Cup in a graphic on a blog post, StoryMap allows you to go further. You can actually click on the graphic and immediately be taken to wherever you clicked. If that image appeared normally on a blog, you’d likely have to scroll down to find the right entry or link for each location. While StoryMap could be improved by allowing users the opportunity to add more than one type of media for each location (as opposed to only one picture, video, etc.), StoryMap’s picture and video capability are a major part of its appeal. It is not always going to be the perfect mode of storytelling, but for stories with strong geographic/journey components, it is ideal for users who value ease of navigation and interactivity.

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

New Tech for New Media