The Olympic athletes weren't the only ones working hard during this year's Winter Olympic Games. News organizations around the world created innovative online projects to capture the power and performances at the Games. Here are a few of those gold medal-level projects:

Perhaps the most interesting part of NBC's Olympic coverage was its Olympic Tracker, a tree map of recent tweets about the Olympic Games. The visualization was created by Stamen Design, the company behind MTV's VMA Tweet Tracker and San Francisco Crimespotting.



Many online news media like USA Today and the Los Angeles Times presented many different interactive infographics that explained the sometimes complex winter games and the strength and athleticism required to compete.



The New York Times was on a roll this Winter Games, producing a slew of multimedia and interactive projects, including an awe-inspiring guide to Vancouver's Olympic venues. Notably, the Times' interactive guide to Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili's fatal crash was criticized for offering what some saw as too intimate of a guide to his final moments.

Boston.com's The Big Picture regularly presents amazing photos surrounding a number of subjects and did not disappoint with its collection of images from Vancouver. The large photos capture the majesty of the 2010 Games.



The Google Street View cameras have documented many places around the world and in honor of the Vancouver Olympics, the team used a snowmobile to present views from the top of the mountains in Whistler and allowed users to take a sneak peek inside the Olympic Village.



Fans didn't wait for news media to create coverage they wanted to see. Some took to Facebook to create a page for the Norwegian curling team's unique pants. The Facebook page was taken down briefly, presumably because the page was not dedicated to a company or brand as required by Facebook. However, the page is back up and at last count had more than half a million fans of the colorful pants.



While NBC carried many of the Olympic Games online, the network's US television broadcasts were heavily criticized, mostly because of the network's lack of live television broadcasts. The lesson learned? While yesterday's audiences were comfortable watching events long after they first happened, today's audience wants its news immediately and not just online.


Also on 10,000 Words

• 10 Ways to improve online sports journalism
• How news media covered the 2008 presidential inauguration
• 8 Interactive online projects that educate and captivate

Labels: flash, photos, social networking

As newspapers and magazines shrink and the resources of television and radio stations dwindle, food journalism is often the first section to get the boot. The web, however, presents a unique opportunity to explore food, recipes, and cooking in new and captivating ways.

For example, this past Thanksgiving, The New York Times served up one of its signature interactive projects that visualized what people are eating. The map illustrates what classic holiday dishes are most popular in various sections of the U.S. The Times Online tracked what Britain eats in an interactive infographic that measures the popularity of certain foods over time.




To track the location of local farmers markets, The Washington Post created an interactive online map that readers can use to track local food and produce. If you prefer your vegetables on a burger or burrito, you can also use fastfoodmap.com — an interactive map of the locations of McDonald's, Burger King, Taco Bell, and more — to satisfy your food cravings.




CHOW.com, a site for recipes and other food-related resources, also has a mix of food-related video that teach users to make food and other stuff. In just a few minutes, you can learn to how to fold a wonton, how to prevent an avocado from browning, and how to clean a cast iron pan.



Food journalism and especially recipe guides are ripe for slideshows. BBC News paired photos and audio to explore the wild, yet edible foods found in the British countryside. The Times-Picayune whipped up "12 Dishes Under $12" a video guide to great dishes from local restaurants. DNAinfo.com, the newly launched hyperlocal site covering the NYC borough of Manhattan, recently presented an interactive slideshow of dishes available during the city's restaurant week.




Food journalism, as with all news subjects, can be invigorated with a little bit of multimedia and a lot of creativity, which in the end makes the topic more interesting for readers and viewers.


Also on 10,000 Words

• 5 Creative uses of Flash and interactive storytelling
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• 10 Inspirational New York Times multimedia and interactive features

Labels: audio, flash, maps, video

News media are using multimedia and interactivity to track same-sex marriage and the stories of gay men and women across the U.S. One of the most common ways online news sites are the debate is using maps that visualize where same-sex marriage or civil unions are legal. CNN and NPR have created two such maps (pictured below) that readers can click or hover over to read more about the each state's position on the issue.

 

The L.A. Times also has a similar map and, in addition, has an adjacent timeline that plots landmark moments in the same-sex marriage and corresponds with the map.



The New Republic, like many other news sites, produced a slideshow that illustrates various points in the chronology of same-sex marriage.



CNN has invited couples of all sexualities to tell their own stories and submit video using iReport. The result is sort of a like niche YouTube that contains video dedicated to a specific topic.



GOOD Magazine took a unique approach to the debate by creating a flat graphic/flow chart that visualizes key arguments made for and against same-sex marriage.



Finally, KQED and The California Report have created a blog dedicated to the ongoing Prop 8 debate happening in California. The blog contains regular updates about what's happening inside the court and includes quotes from witnesses and outside observers.



Also on 10,000 Words:

• 8 Interactive online projects that educate and captivate
• Post-Inauguration Wrap Up: High-tech coverage of the tech president
• 10 Inspirational New York Times multimedia and interactive features

Labels: blogging, design, flash

Audio isn't just for podcasts and slideshows. The following sites are using audio in new and creative ways to make create unique interactive experiences.

BBC: Save Our Sounds

The BBC map is indicative of the latest trend in audio: collecting user-generated audio and displaying it on a map. For this ambitious project, visitors are invited to upload sounds from all over the world, which anyone can listen to by navigating around the interactive map. This means you can hear the purr of a cheetah in South Africa or listen to a wrestling match in Mongolia without ever leaving your couch.

Tracks on a Map

Tracks on a Map takes the user-generated audio concept in a different direction and lets users from all over the world upload music to the site, which allows the viewer to hear great music and how it differs from country to country.

Vocalo.org Local Music Map

The aforementioned maps are powered by complex databases, but the Local Music Map shows that audio and maps don't have to be grand productions to be good. The map mashup catalogs the music scene of the Lake Michigan area and provides photos and links to some of the area's local artists, venues and other music-related landmarks.

Soundtrack

This series of maps takes audio to a new and innovative level by taking the viewer or an audio tour of various locales. As the audio plays, the adjacent dynamic map moves to indicate where the audio was recorded. The technology is a combination of Google Maps, Quicktime and Javascript and is reminiscent of Vidmap which combines maps and video in the same way.

Cold War Kids: I've Seen Enough

Indie rock band Cold War Kids used the web to create an interactive music video where fans can toggle on and off each member of the band as they play the song "I've Seen Enough." The effect is sort of like a mixing board where the viewer can listen to one or all of the band members play at the same time.

Interactive Band

The Flash-animated band is a lot like the Cold War Kids experience, only with more instruments and a groovy samba beat. Users can again toggle between the different band members and, if neither French or Spanish is your first language, learn a few bits of the languages as well.

Buckle Drum Set

This virtual drum set is proof that interactive audio experiences don't have to be all fun and games. If you want to learn the basics of how to play the drums but aren't yet willing to drop the cash on a whole set, you can use this Flash-based interactive to learn the various parts and sounds of a drum set.

dothedaft.com

If electronic music is more your thing, The Daft Punk Console allows users to recreate and remix the Daft Punk hits "Technologic" and "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" (famously sampled by Kanye West) using an interactive interface.

in Bb 2.0

This online collection of YouTube videos combines both user-generated content, an interactive audio experience and just plain fun into one cool project. A variety of musicians recorded themselves playing individual instruments and uploaded the video to YouTube to create one big collaborative song. You can play any combination of the embedded videos to create a unique harmony that sounds pretty great no matter which video you choose.

Economía musical

This last project is proof that news infographics don't have to be boring. This series of charts from lainformacion.com takes what would otherwise be another sad bar chart about the failing economy and turns it into a fun interactive, musical experience.




Also on 10,000 Words

• How to create, edit and embed audio for free
• 9 Tips for recording audio for the web
• 5 Creative uses of Flash and interactive storytelling
• A is for Audio: The ABCs of Multimedia

Labels: audio, flash, maps

Why spend money on expensive multimedia tools when you can use comparable alternatives for free? They may not be an exact replacement, but how can you argue with the price?

PHOTO EDITING: Photoshop
Free: Splashup

Photoshop may be the industry leader when it comes to photo editing and graphic design, but Splashup, a free online tool, has many of the same capabilities at a much cheaper price. Splashup has lots of the tools you'd expect to find in Photoshop and has a similar layout, which is a bonus for those looking to get started right away. Splashup isn't the only free online photo editing program, check out this list of 20 more.

WEB DESIGN: Dreamweaver
Free: KompoZer

Looking to create your next web site without paying big money for programs like Dreamweaver? KompoZer, a free web design program available for immediate download, is great for both novice web designers and professional webheads who need more advanced editing features.

VIDEO: Final Cut, Adobe Premiere
Free: iMovie, JayCut

Many video editors, both novice and professional, use iMovie to create professional-looking videos and an amateur price. The program is included on modern Macs as part of the iLife package and has the basic features editors need as well as few advanced extras such as detachable audio and image stabilization. JayCut is an online video editor that lets registered users upload and edit their video for free. You can even add photos, audio and effects to your project. The final edited video can be shared on the web or downloaded directly to a computer.

AUDIO: ProTools, Adobe Audition
Free: Audacity, GarageBand

Audacity is a comprehensive audio editor with many of the capabilities of its costly competitors. The program, which is available for a free download lets users record and edit everything from simple audio tracks to complex professional work. GarageBand, which is included on modern Macs along with iMovie and iPhoto, takes a simple approach to audio editing and has the added capability of creating enhanced podcasts with photos, chapter markers and more. Find even more free audio editing programs here.

SLIDESHOWS: Soundslides
Free: PhotoPeach

Until recently there was no other slideshow tool that could compete upload Soundslides' flexibility and easy-to-use interface...until now. PhotoPeach lets users upload and order photos using a drag and drop interface, upload an MP3 audio file from a computer, add captions for individual photos and embed the final slideshow anywhere on the net. All this is familiar to anyone who has ever used Soundslides, but PhotoPeach offers all this and more for free, making it a strong substitute for Soundslides.

INTERACTIVE MEDIA: Flash
Free: Effect Generator

Effect Generator, a free online tool, lets anyone create common Flash elements such as slideshows, graphics, and embedded videos. Once you've created your effect the generator emails a link where you can access the Flash file you created. The layout differs from Flash and takes some getting used to but is a great alternative, especially for those just starting to learn Flash.

WORD PROCESSING: Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
Free: Google Docs

Many of the programs and tools on this list are substitutions for existing program. With Google Docs, you'll never want to touch Microsoft Office again. The free online tool lets anyone with a Google account create documents, spreadsheets and presentations as well as share the document for collaborative editing or viewing. Google Docs is accessible from any computer with an internet connection or you can work offline or download your finished work directly to your computer. You can even upload your existing documents into Google Docs.




Also on 10,000 Words:

• 21 Free online photo editing tools
• Where to find free sound effects and royalty-free music
• How to edit your video online for free or cheap
• How to create, edit and embed audio for free
• Essential multimedia tutorials and resources for do-it-yourself training

Labels: audio, flash, photos, video

Flash is capable of more than just audio slideshows. Some of the most innovative uses of the animation software are happening outside of journalism and are challenging the traditional notions of storytelling through interactivity and innovation.

Jordan: History of Flight

The storied career of basketball legend Michael Jordan is told through this interactive timeline that uses eye-catching and interactive graphics to make Jordan's story even more powerful.

HBO Imagine: The Affair

Cable channel HBO knows what makes a good story and has a whole rack of awards to prove it. It's latest foray into interactive online storytelling is this narrative that tells a single story from four different perspectives.

UNIQLO

To showcase its 2009 collection, clothing retailer UNIQLO created an interactive runway where users can select a model and read more about the clothes they are wearing. It's unique interface creates a more dynamic shopping experience.

What's the Real Cost?

This interactive Flash game developed by health insurance non-profit Regence seeks to educate users on the hidden fees and bureaucracy often associated with American health care system. Like most Flash games, it is fun but subliminally educational.

A Journey Beyond

Sure it's a clever way to sell more monogram bags, but Louis Vuitton's interactive conversation between astronauts Jim Lovell, Sally Ride and Buzz Aldrin is nevertheless brilliant. It is clever not only in its use of Flash, but in creating an immersive experience that draws the viewer in to the stories of the three history makers.




The aforementioned sites took a lot of time and exceptional talent to create, but it doesn't mean novice or intermediate Flash users can't take some of the basic storytelling and interaction techniques and apply them to their own stories. Flash has a wide range of capabilities and it takes just a little imagination and effort to create something new and unique.

Haven't yet mastered the basics of Flash? Check out the Flash tutorials available at w3schools.com, kirupa.com and lynda.com.


Also on 10,000 Words:

• Where to find the best in Flash journalism
• 3 reasons journalists shouldn't use Flash
• 8 Flash tips and tricks + one big cheat sheet
• How to save time when using Flash

Labels: flash

The 2008 U.S. election season may be over, but the real work has only just begun. The following tools are tracking the every move of President Barack Obama and Congress in easy to use online tools that can turn any user into a political watchdog.

Congress Speaks

It's safe to say that the members of Congress talk a great deal while in session. In total, more than 14.5 million words were spoken in the 110th Congress. Congress Speaks is a fun, interactive guide to who was speaking those words and how often. From the site we know that California Congressman Joe Baca spoke more than 24,000 words during the session and, from the small word cloud that accompanies each Congressperson, his focus was on families, children and food.

Capitol Words

A more timely and serious approach to tracking Congress, Capitol Words, a project of the Sunlight Foundation, tracks the most frequently spoken words said on the Hill. The data can be viewed a number of ways, including a bar chart that highlights the most commonly spoken words, a heat map that visualizes the most vocal states, and few other bar charts that highlight the most and least vocal Congresspeople. The words are also sortable by day, week, month, session, Congressperson and are searchable by topic.

The Washington Post: POTUS Tracker

The Post has made it easier to find out where the president has been at any given time with its POTUS Tracker, an interactive database that uses a tree map to visualize where the president has been and what issues he discussed. The database can be sorted by issues, the type of meeting or venue, and by those in attendance. Clicking further into the project reveals a tailored list of the president's actions in relation to the selected category. The database also has an accompanying RSS feed for keeping track of President Obama 24/7.

PolitiFact

After the 2008 election, the now Pulitzer-prize winning site PolitiFact shifted its focus to President Obama and the rest of Washington. The site's Obameter tracks the campaign promises the president made during his campaign on categorizes them as Kept, Unkept, No Action, and a few other categories. The tool is remarkable in that traditional media have long been passive about holding candidates accountable for the promises made to voters.

The site still features its Truth-O-Meter, a holdover from the campaign season that analyzes the statements of key political figures and rates them on a scale from True to "Pants on Fire."

USA Today: Presidential Approval Tracker

There are obviously a lot of words flowing from lawmakers' mouths, but what does the American public actually think of its current and past Commanders in Chief? USA Today has created an insightful interactive chart that compares past presidents' approval ratings — from Harry Truman to Barack Obama. Users can select and two or more presidents and compare their standings while in office and adjust the graph by date.




For more online political tools and visualizations, including perspctv and FiveThirtyEight, check out the previous post 15 Ways to follow the 2008 election online.


Also on 10,000 Words:

• 10 Inspirational New York Times multimedia and interactive features
• News databases: Turning numbers into knowledge
• 8 Ways of visualizing the news
• Where to find the best in Flash journalism

Labels: database, flash

When Flash, the animation authoring software distributed by Adobe, first made its way into the hands of journalists, newsrooms everywhere seized the opportunity to create interactive stories that combined text, photos, audio, and video into one neat package. The novelty of the program led to the use of Flash for everything — even for stories that could be told successfully with just text and pictures — and sometimes requiring staff with no previous experience in design or computer programming to begin learning the program.

That said as wonderful a program as Flash is and despite its limitless possibilities there are several reasons why newsrooms should just say no.

1. Flash projects take a long time to create

When brainstorming how to incorporate Flash into upcoming multimedia projects, many journalists and editors don't take into account how time-consuming it is to build even the most basic Flash project. Whereas with a print story, the writer can simply stop writing at any moment and not include further points or ideas, the process of creating keyframes, tweens, and coding a project takes a significant time to create complete. Flash is only done when it's done.

2. Many projects don't need to be animated

Journalists get excited when they see Flash projects with eye-catching animation and thus are tempted to make everything move, swish, zoom or fly across the screen in their own projects. Journalists should first decide if the multimedia project even needs to be built in the program and that Flash isn't being used just because it's cool. If it is decided that Flash is a great fit for a particular story, the producer should restrain his or herself and not go overboard with animation. At its foundation, a Flash project is still about telling a story.

3. Most journalists are not designers

Flash is okay to use as long as the conventional rules of web design are not ignored. Those who interact with Flash projects expect the layout and navigation to mirror traditional websites with the added bonus of interactivity. Because the average journalist isn't schooled in the fundamentals of design or user interaction, a Flash project should first be sketched or storyboarded by professional designer who is well-versed on how readers interact with visual stories or graphics.


Of course there are many reasons why journalists should use Flash, among them its versatility and its power to draw in the passive user. The following are three multimedia journalism stories that are proof of the power Flash has to bring stories to life.

1. National Geographic: Kingdom of the Blue Whale

2. Las Vegas Sun: Construction Deaths

3. Lainformacion.com: Día de la Música

Also on 10,000 Words:

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• How did they do that? How to deconstruct websites and Flash files
• 8 Flash tips and tricks + one big cheat sheet

Labels: flash

With President Barack Obama's recent nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor for appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, many are left wondering who are the justices and what exactly it is the Supreme Court. Thanks to the internet, the inner workings of the Court can be explained visually, bringing to life the centuries-old government institution.


In response to news of the nomination, Congressional Quarterly has detailed the sometimes lengthy nomination process in an easy to use interactive bar chart. The stages of each nominee's confirmation are lined up side-by-side to give the user an idea of the complicated process.



Congressional Quarterly also has a compelling slideshow of the history of Supreme Court nominees that is worth a look. Other news media that have taken the online slideshow approach include the Huffington Post, which showcases photos of Sotomayor's childhood and family, and Pinko Magazine, which, in a more humorous approach, selects the top 13 television judges Obama should have nominated to the vacant seat.



Earlier this month, the New York Times asked its online readers who they thought should be President Obama's pick for the court. Visitors were presented with an interactive graphic that contained bios of possible candidates. Readers overwhelmingly chose Sotomayor to replace Justice David Souter after his retirement.

Back in 2005, the Times published a comprehensive interactive graphic of major court decisions and the judges that presided over them that is still relevant today. The information is sortable by year or by issue.



PBS has a wealth of online information about the Supreme Court itself, including a video series that traces the history of the Court back to the early 1800s and a text-based timeline that reviews some of the major court cases. The site also hosts an interactive quiz that questions visitors on the Supreme Court cases that affect our daily lives.



CNN has an entire multimedia package devoted to the Supreme Court and Sotomayor's nomination, including videos, timelines and a photo of gallery of the eight remaining justices. HowStuffWorks also has several videos that detail the history of the Court.

With all this talk about the inner workings of the Supreme Court, wouldn't it be better to just to see it for yourself? The Oyez Project, the go-to online resource for all things SCOTUS-related, has virtual tours of the Supreme Court building, the courtroom and the justices' chambers. The 360° panoramic images are made possible by the internet and are an invaluable inside look that in the pre-internet age could only be described with text.




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• 7 Eye-popping interactive timelines (and 3 ways to create one)

Labels: flash, video

New York City...center of the universe. Okay not quite, but there are a lot of great multimedia stories and interactive projects emerging from the City that Never Sleeps.

There is perhaps no better way to take in the many landmarks of Manhattan than an aerial tour of the area. In today's economy, a helicopter ride perhaps isn't the most efficient means of transportation, but thanks to Pixelcase you can still take in magnificent views of the city. The interactive, panoramic photographs let users zoom across the New York skyline, above the noise and traffic. More on how to create similar panoramas here and here.



The following map of a horizonless Manhattan has been circulating around the internet for good reason: it is a unique take on the flat map we are so used to seeing. The map, created by London design studio Schulze & Webb, was created and fine-tuned using 3D imaging software.



The City Concealed, a project of THIRTEEN, explores some of the hidden gems of New York City through a series of online videos. Offbeat locales such as the tombs and catacombs of Green-Wood Cemetery and Brooklyn Navy Yard — places likely overlooked by even native New Yorkers — are profiled. (Link courtesy of @fgeorge)



While the sights and sounds of NYC are fascinating, it is the city's more than 8 million residents that bring it to life. Tough Times, a project created by students at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, uses a combination of print stories, Flash, audio slideshows and video to tell the stories of New Yorkers struggling with the current economic crisis.

For example, the harrowing story of Maisha Morales, a single mother from Brooklyn, is detailed in a print story, but her raw emotion emerges from the accompanying video. A thoughtful analysis of Morales' situation is explained in an easy-to-navigate Flash infographic.



Local publication amNY also has a comprehensive collection of interactive photo slideshows and video, including "Young and Muslim in NYC," a series of video interviews complemented by traditional print stories.



Of course, one cannot discuss multimedia in New York City without mentioning the New York Times. The new media powerhouse is known for its captivating projects that explore global and national issues, but some of its most intriguing are those that focus on the city itself.

One such example is One in 8 Million, a series of audio slideshows that explore the lives of average New Yorkers. Stories include those of Melissa Dixson, a painter turned taxidermist and Christian Hubert, a bicyclist who suffers from vertigo.



The project is reminiscent of the Going to the End of the Line photo story featured in this post. The project focused on stations at the end of train lines where most commuters never venture.

The Water Dance, another photo slideshow from the New York Times, takes a simple, often overlooked moment and visualizes it as a metaphor for humanity. The result is one of the most captivating multimedia pieces to emerge this year.



One point should remain clear: While New York attracts creative minds from all over the world, the city does not have a monopoly on multimedia journalism. Large papers like the New York Times may have vast resources, but compelling multimedia projects can be created by anyone anywhere.

Have a multimedia story or project you're proud of? Share it in the comments and it just might be featured here on 10,000 Words.


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• Museums as Inspiration: Museum of Modern Art

Labels: audio, flash, maps, photos, video