Like most journalism majors, I am a bit of a news junkie and as a sports fan, a sports news junkie. But even the most diehard of fans can sometimes get a bit worn out and would prefer a quick news brief over a two pager with a jump. Boston.com gets this. They get it more than ESPN.com, which has great features but has yet to really see the beauty in constructing a news article out of photographs and briefs.Boston.com understands how to do this perfectly. Sometimes I will click on a link thinking it’s a news story and it will bring me to a photo gallery, which is often a pleasant surprise. This means less reading for me!
Now should every story be done like this? Obviously not, but it's a great way to create a countdown or rank importance of things without having to fumble through an article. There doesn't have to be expert commentary, just the reporters’ ideas and it can be done in a really fun way. It is a great way to explore ideas without them having to be hard facts and sometimes I feel like I learn as much if not more from a story constructed like this.
Here is a great example of a story, “10 offseason questions for the Patriots,” that works way better in this format than I believe it would in a standard article.
I really like the way this photo gallery was done. It is a quick read, but it highlights important facts. If you want to learn more about a certain aspect you can do so, but this is a great overview. It also incorporates the readers by featuring a poll at the end asking for the readers’ opinion.
To me this is quality journalism. It isn’t a Pulitzer Price winner, but it does what journalists should do, raises questions and educates readers.
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