'Linking' the Seasons

While living abroad in Ireland and working at Food & Wine magazine, I learned a huge deal about the importance of cooking and eating locally and seasonally. During my initial interview with my soon-to-be supervisor, Ross Golden-Bannon, he said something that really stuck out. It was along the lines of:

"Seasonal cooking is exploding as a trend, but we've been doing it in Ireland for ages."

After that experience, I paid special attention to how mainstream U.S. media covers emerging food trends. For the average American consumer, seasonal cooking is a relatively novel concept that may initially seem complicated or difficult to understand. Writers are not only faced with the challenge of explaining the seasons in terms of cooking, but helping people understand how they can participate in the local and seasonal food movements.

On December 14, LA Times writer David Karp wrote a very interesting feature titled "Farmers Markets: Yes, there are seasons in Southern California." The strengths of this article, I believe, come from the links the author chose to include that help the reader understand the different seasons available in California.I also think that the author does a good job of referencing different ranches that produce seasonal items such as carrots, grapefruits, nuts and avocados.

The author does a nice job of explaining the "seasonal rhythm" of crops and how certain growers are able to harvest them and lengthen their season. Including the maturity release dates from the California Avocado Commission was a nice touch because it lent an official and authoritative source of knowledge.

Overall, I thought this feature was a great resource for seasonal eating in California. However, I think the author could have taken it a step further and included other multimedia content such as photos of current in season crops and an interactive map of farmer's market locations (or at least a link to a list). Online journalism has the unique opportunity to provide more in-depth and useful information that readers can access with an easy link. Journalists should continue to push the limits and try to use their online articles as a medium for providing as much help and knowledge as possible.

LA Times' Framework: Visual Storytelling

"Capturing the world through photography, video and multimedia."

 That is the motto of the LA Times' Framework page. I've referenced this page several times before because it is the single portion of the media outlet devoted specifically to the most vivid aspects of online journalism: photos and video.Sure, we can add links and SEO optimize all we want, but the content is what compels individuals to return time and time again. The photographs capture both the most mundane and most extraordinary aspects of life, elevating them to a form of art that all humans can appreciate. Videos record movement and sound that transplants us from our living room or local coffee shop and places us into the action. The Framework blog is truly a celebration of the technology that allows us to share and immerse ourselves in experiences from all around the world. Lately, I’ve been reflecting on how I’ve been able to utilize this website while tracking the L.A. Times. I’ve come up with a list of pros and cons.

PRO: Throughout this class, it has been a great tool.

 I’ve been able to find specific stills and videos of events that I wanted to write about. When searching for online media to critique, this was my home base. The images sometimes linked to longer, in-depth articles that I could include and in general, the content was always colorful and interesting.

 PRO: The page is a rich resource of “Hey, here are examples of amazing photos and videos and how to do this thing we call multimedia storytelling RIGHT.” 

 While working on assignments involving taking my own photos and video, I sometimes found myself lost. I was unsure how to get into the action and really snag a moment. I didn’t know how to take interesting B-roll and wasn’t too fabulous at pairing relevant imagery to my reporting script.

  CON: Zero Convergence

We all know that old adage: “a picture’s worth a thousand words.” Yes, I agree, but a thousand words without context can be a dangerous thing. Framework has weekly roundups where they include captions or brief descriptions. While heartwarming and eye-opening, these were never satisfying. I wanted to know more. Who was the subject of this photo? What exactly is going on? When did this happen? The Frameworks blog definitely had the “collecting” part down, but lacked the component of convergent storytelling.

  CON: Didn't Distinguish Between Hard and Soft

As a reader, I found the leap from serious to soft content to be extreme and often jarring. I love comical relief, but seeing photos of families grieving and controversial rioting next to a montage of little kids dressed as Santa’s helpers is slightly unnerving. When put so close together, I am unable to fully appreciate any of the photos because they represent something so opposite. Perhaps categorizing their weekly round-ups differently could be an easy solution to this problem, or maybe I’m just sensitive to presentation, but I definitely think how the content is organized can be improved upon.

Local LA: California Proposition Voter Guide

The upcoming Presidential election is not only on the forefront of everybody's mind, but also on the front page of print and digital news publications. Amidst the debates and camapign coverage, national news outlets that also provide local news have to develop creative strategies for giving equal prominence to local news. 

 In order to keep their Californian audience informed about local politics and legislature, the LA Times embedded this banner head with a link that directs their readers to a  Proposition Voter Guide. This Voter Guide is a great example of how digital media is able to enhance both content and transparency by providing more space to explain each individual proposition. Readers are also able to engage with the content by searching the people who are contributing support AND opposition for each proposition.

After reading the brief explanations on the "Voter Guide," the reader is able to click "Read more." These links bring them to pages that provide more in-depth information, as well as clear visuals and interesting graphic representations of data. The information is smartly divided into different sections.

"When it passes" explains the impact this proposition would have on the local population.

"Official Summary & Analysis" provides, via more links, the official full text, a reference guide, and a title summary and analysis.

"Editorial: The Times' Take" gives their opinion and stance on the proposition.

They also include a section titled "Tracking the money" in which they breakdown single contributions by size. The above chart is an effective way to display the amount of financial support Proposition 30 has received. 

At the very bottom of the page, the LA Times lists the name of contributors as well as the date they contributed the listed amount. While I find it fascinating that digital media has been able to create this level of transparency, especially for important issues such as voting, I wonder if this particular information is appropriate and pertinent "news." As a reader, this does not add to my understanding of the propositions, therefore I'm not sure it is necessary to include this particular infographic on an informational Voter Guide. 

Would you feel comfortable making donations if you knew it would be published publicly?

Do you find Voter Guides helpful tools during election season?