I just watched this convergence piece about the posthumous reflections of Norwegian citizens about the terrible massacre in Norway by Anders Behring Breivik, a 32-year old extremist, or as some say, a terrorist. It’s difficult to pin a title of “terrorist” onto a person like this, and why, I’m not entirely sure. Perhaps our perspective of terrorism has become racially and culturally charged. Yet, I’m not going to go into the discrepancies about the description of the incident. I really just want to analyze this new piece that I watched. It’s different from other multimedia pieces because the audio (a collection of ambient noise and voiceover) is optional. The control of the photo-flipping is also interesting, because it’s in the viewer’s hands. I liked this aspect of the piece. While I do think that multimedia pieces can and should be done well by the journalists themselves, it’s definitely an interesting prospect to consider the audience within the process of learning about a story.
Here are some shots from the piece.
Mourning young people in regards to the Norway massacre and attack.
A woman recovers from her wounds from the Norway attack.
It’s a very fascinating concept, and I’d really like to delve into it. But even at face value, the story is moving and touching. Being able to interact with it propels you more into the story than the average news story would. It’s an intimate experience, and I feel like more multimedia pieces like this could help the general public become more open and accepting of the media and its changing coverage of modern news.
abigail geiger 