EXAMENSARBETE INOM MEDIETEKNIK, AVANCERAD NIVÅ, 30 HP STOCKHOLM, SVERIGE 2020 Rich Content in Digital News Stories An investigation of how rich content can enhance digital news stories and widen the audience EMMA IGELSTRÖM KTH SKOLAN FÖR ELEKTROTEKNIK OCH DATAVETENSKAP Abstract The way digital news are being created today is very different from traditional printed methods. The digital news format has possibilities that printed versions do not have. For example, they can use animations, video, audio, and interactivity, referred to with a collective name as rich content in this study. The problem is that there is little knowledge about rich content, how it is being used and the reasons for using it. By interviewing journalists and content creators, this study aims to answer the following questions: How can rich content help convey a digital news story to the reader in a more engaging way than traditional methods? How can rich content help widen the audience of digital news stories? Through semi-structured interviews, the author explored how rich content is used, and how people think when creating it. Ten employees at the media house Schibsted, all working at different norwegian newspapers, participated to this study. The results indicate that rich content in digital news articles can help convey a news story’s main points by delivering complex things in an easy and understandable way. As a result, rich content seems to encourage more readers to finish the whole article. This study has also found that rich content can be used to widen the audience, since it can make the promotion of an article more interesting and make more people eager to share the article on their own social media accounts. Furthermore, targeting news articles towards different user groups could help widen the audience even further. Strengths and weaknesses are discussed, and the future work section show potential in further investigating how different user groups are affected by rich content, and what types of articles can benefit the most by using rich content. Sammanfattning Det sätt som digitala nyhetsartiklar skapas på idag skiljer sig mycket från traditionella tryckta metoder. Det digitala nyhets formatet har möjligheter som tryckta versioner inte har. Till exempel, användning av animationer, video, ljud och interaktivitet, som med ett kollektivt namn kallas för rich content i denna studie. Problemet är att det finns begränsad kunskap om rich content, hur det används och anledningarna till användning av det. Genom intervjuer med journalister och innehållsskapare har denna studies mål varit att besvara följande frågeställningar: Hur kan rich content hjälpa till att förmedla digitala nyheter till läsaren på ett mer engagerande sätt än traditionella metoder? Hur kan rich content hjälpa till med att bredda publiken av digitala nyheter? Genom semistrukturerade intervjuer undersökte författaren hur rich content används och hur de anställda tänker under skapandet av rich content. Tio anställda på mediehuset Schibsted, som alla arbetar vid olika norska tidningar, deltog till denna studie. Resultaten indikerar att rich content i digitala nyhetsartiklar kan hjälpa att förmedla en nyhets huvudbudskap genom att leverera komplexa saker på ett enkelt och mer förståeligt sätt. Resultaten visar på att rich content verkar uppmuntra fler läsare till att läsa klart hela artikeln. Denna studies resultat visar även att rich content kan användas till att bredda publiken, eftersom det kan göra marknadsföringen av en artikeln mer intressant och får fler människor att vilja dela artikeln på sina egna sociala medier. Vidare kan riktade nyhetsartiklar mot olika användargrupper hjälpa till att bredda publiken ytterligare. Eventuella styrkor och svagheter diskuteras och stycket framtida arbete visar potentiell vidare undersökning gällande hur olika användargrupper påverkas av rich content och vad för typ av artiklar som kan dra störst fördel av användning av rich content. Rich Content in Digital News Stories - An investigation of how rich ​ ​ content can enhance digital news stories and widen the audience Emma Igelström KTH Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm, Sweden [email protected] ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION The way digital news are being created today is very In the creation of today’s digital news, modalities, other different from traditional printed methods. The digital news than text, such as visual and auditory have become both format has possibilities that printed versions do not have. normal and very important. According to Ivankho et al. For example, they can use animations, video, audio, and [14] “To produce smart and deep journalism is not enough interactivity, referred to with a collective name as rich to be powerful in the digital age”. Today’s creators of content in this study. The problem is that there is little digital news stories need to adapt and always seek to knowledge about rich content, how it is being used and the evolve the digital news story template. To engage the reasons for using it. By interviewing journalists and content audience, or the so-called readers, users or even viewers, creators, this study aims to answer the following questions: different modalities are being used in new exciting ways. How can rich content help convey a digital news story to Digital news stories use a vast amount of rich content. Rich the reader in a more engaging way than traditional content in this study refers to everything in an article that is methods? How can rich content help widen the audience of not text and image. For example, videos, animations and digital news stories? sound, that are used in the same time and place, which Through semi-structured interviews, the author explored means that digital news stories containing rich content have how rich content is used, and how people think when gone away from the traditional news template in physical creating it. Ten employees at the media house Schibsted, newspapers with only text and images. This has been done all working at different norwegian newspapers, participated in order to be able to allow interactivity within a story, and to this study. actually allow viewers to hear or see what happened, and has become an important part of consuming digital news. It The results indicate that rich content in digital news articles offers the user a diverse perspective and a more in depth can help convey a news story’s main points by delivering understanding of what actually happened [19]. According complex things in an easy and understandable way. As a to the New York Times team, it is important to evolve as result, rich content seems to encourage more readers to fast as possible, they state: “Our core mission remains finish the whole article. This study has also found that rich producing the world's best journalism. But with the endless content can be used to widen the audience, since it can upheaval in technologies, reader habits and the entire make the promotion of an article more interesting and business, the Times needs to pursue smart new strategies make more people eager to share the article on their own for growing our audience. The urgency is only growing social media accounts. Furthermore, targeting news articles because digital media is getting more crowded, better towards different user groups could help widen the founded and far more innovative” [14]. Another word for audience even further. Strengths and weaknesses are rich content is multimedia journalism, which is defined as discussed, and the future work section show potential in “presentation of a news story package on a website using further investigating how different user groups are affected two or more media formats, such as (but not limited to) by rich content, and what types of articles can benefit the spoken or written words, music, moving and still images, most by using rich content. graphic animations, including interactive and hyper-textual elements” [17]. Author Keywords Rich content; Digital News Stories; I-docs; Multimedia Since rich content is being used in vast amounts in digital journalism; Longform; news stories today, it is important to know if it actually helps to convey the story. According to Pincus et al. [17] messages delivered through several modalities can require more cognitive abilities and may be too demanding for the 1 information processing system in the brain. In other words, There is no doubt that the Snow Fall article was a success rich content could be more distracting than plain text. If with its 3.5 million views and a Pulitzer Prize. The Snow that is true, it would be interesting to understand why it is Fall article increased the duration of the average visit to the increasing despite being distracting for the reader. The article to 12 minutes, which is more than 10 times the norm answer could be that people are just starting to get used to according to the then editor Jill Abramson [10] and this type of news stories and they find it novel and exciting, therefore seems to have made the readers more engaged. or it could be that it makes the story more interesting. This This seems to go against the idea, supported by some report will try to discover the reasons why rich content is research [14], that people that read news online only read being used more and more in digital news stories. short and quick news. After the release and success of Snow Fall, Jill Abramson claimed that “Snow Fall” has BACKGROUND now become a “verb” of its own used by editors to refer to This section is an introduction to the field of digital news the creation of similar glitzy and high-profile projects [10]. stories creation, and an introduction of the different Different news formats and effects on users existing templates that use rich content. The Snow Fall article is a so-called longform article. The Snow Fall term longform describes articles that take deep dives into In 2012, The New York Times won the Pulitzer prize for stories and attempt to inform readers in substantive ways or their publication of John Branch’s “Snow Fall: The to elicit impact.