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Why we need storytelling that can be experienced

Editors and communicators are discovering multimedia storytelling as a way to stand out from the crowd. Our guest author thinks that clear rules are necessary for success – and more relevance to everyday life.

The media industry is currently going through a profound change. News is increasingly being consumed in digital form. This has also changed the way many editorial offices see themselves. Online editions of newspapers and magazines are no longer just the digital counterpart to the print edition. They enable completely different approaches to topics – also for all other communication disciplines.

At the same time, the advertising revenues of many publishers have declined significantly. In addition, journalism is moving faster and is increasingly losing its breaking news sovereignty to social media such as Twitter. In this area of ​​tension, it becomes more important for serious media to no longer just offer classification and depth in order to stand out from the crowd. Established editorial offices are becoming increasingly aware that readers can also participate more in the reception of content.

Multimedia storytelling – i.e. the combination of text, photos, videos and data visualizations – has proven to be a central means for this. In interactive teams, journalists who write work together with programmers and data scientists from the very beginning, in order to prepare topics in a way that would be impossible on paper. This also opens up previously unimagined storytelling opportunities for corporate communication and PR.

Arrived on social media

Multimedia storytelling has already arrived, especially in social media. Brands and companies are already using the interactive elements that channels like Instagram offer to interact with their followers and tell stories. Media houses have also recognized this opportunity. The latest example comes from the SWR, which is responsible for the mammoth project #ichbinsophiescholl launched. The channel accompanies the last months in the life of Sophie Scholl “in real time” on Instagram. Even if the content-related criticism of the project is partly justified, the multimedia storytelling should be emphasized: With the help of photos, videos, documents and drawings, an actress conveys the thoughts and feelings of the Munich student who lost her life in the resistance against National Socialism.

A similar example comes from Bayerischer Rundfunk with the award-winning chatbot messenger project “I, Eisner! “. Fictional messages were sent via Whatsapp or Instagram on behalf of Kurt Eisner, in which he retold his story from the days of the revolution in November 1918 to his murder in February 1919.

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The imagery must match the narrative

These social media examples clearly show what interactive possibilities the metamorphosis of multimedia elements and data offers for storytelling and what depth of audience participation is possible. Some of them can also serve as a blueprint for corporate communications and editorial work. There are a few aspects to consider when researching and planning a multimedia story.

On the one hand, the chosen visual language must match the narrative. This is the only way to ensure that content is transmitted authentically. On the other hand, it is important to resist the temptation to distract from the core of a message with unnecessary gimmicks. Explanatory videos, sound recordings, 3D animations and data processing are only useful for a story if they offer added value.

In addition, it is important to integrate smooth transitions between text and video. These are important in order not to give readers the feeling that one of the forms dominates and the other can be dispensed with. Duplication of content is absolutely taboo. In addition, every story told using multimedia should be self-explanatory – nobody likes to study an instruction manual first to get involved in a new topic.

Relation to the everyday life of the audience

In order to make a difference in the audience’s perception, communication told via multimedia must make relevant topics tangible. It must be able to relate to its users and their everyday lives. And although the breakthrough of the “genre” was almost ten years ago, multimedia, journalistic stories remain lighthouse projects in many places: particularly extensive research that is also implemented in a visually complex manner. But this will change. Some examples already show what the future of journalism as well as PR and corporate communication could look like.

For example, time has the piece “That’s how quickly the coronavirus spreads indoors“Released in 2020. After the first two paragraphs, a continuously running timer appears that says, “You have been reading this article for 59 seconds. During this period you have exhaled approximately 594 aerosol particles. If you were infected with Sars-CoV-2, an estimated 19 aerosol particles would be infectious. ”The following text not only explains how high the risk of infection is in the restaurant, in the office, at home with the family. It also encourages its users to get an idea for themselves.

For this purpose, the editorial team has visualized a calculation model developed by the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry: the size of the depicted room, the length of stay and the number of people present can be changed using sliders in order to display the individual risk of infection as a percentage. In this way, the editorial team makes a complex issue concretely imaginable and at the same time offers the audience maximum everyday relevance.

Make complex issues tangible

Another example comes from the New York Times, which took its readers to the newly built Hudson Yards district two years ago – even before it officially opened. The text “Is This the Neighborhood New York deserves? “Is architecture criticism and urban planning at the same time and it literally lets you fly through between skyscrapers. The beginning of the text is above a 3D model of the city, which changes the perspective as you scroll down. Later, the individual buildings of the controversial real estate project will also be presented in this way. And during a full-screen walk along the nearby High Line, a green former railway line, a conversation with the designers unfolds.

In the end, the author pulls his readers: inside, literally, over the edge of the viewing platform on the 100th floor of one of the buildings – to put his final sentence right there, many hundreds of meters above Manhattan. This is how this unusual contribution emotionalizes a topic that would otherwise have remained abstract for many.

Emotions, context, experience: all of these are the cornerstones of a functioning multimedia storytelling that will not only increasingly shape journalism, but also influence all communication disciplines – especially PR. Successful communication has always helped companies find relevant stories for their brands, products and services. In order to keep up with current developments, it must now help companies to find their way in the changing environment. This requires amalgamation with other disciplines and competencies in the areas of programming, data science, online marketing, shaping and design in the future of corporate communication. Because PR must focus even more on its role as a translator for consumers in order to create dialogues with people who have an attitude, an opinion, a message. Because in the end, in the ever-increasing flood of stories, only one thing will count to be noticed: relevance.

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