If a picture is worth 1000 words, how much is an interactive model worth?
The SDNN burst on the scene promising “rich and diverse content”. My hope that rich content means that they will be at the forefront of bringing interactivity to the publication of news.
Today we see published a story discussing the effect of sea level rise in San Diego. Rebecca Tolin quotes Dr. Emily Young, “If you look at the maps we have…” Well Doctor, I would love to, but they don’t seem to be included.
A simple map, or artists representation, would probably have been sufficient for the old media. SDNN needs to set its sights higher to meet the needs of a generation fed by Google Apps. In his Free Geography Tools blog Leszek Pawlowicz describes how to model sea level rise using Google Earth. In his blog he has both animations and wonderful 3D images of Manhattan having been flooded by a rising sea level. This is the type of rich content that SDNN, in my opinion, should attempt to provide.
We have seen extensive use of Google Earth in the television news and on reality programming like the Amazing Race. But TV is a one way medium. The publication of KML files would allow the user to run the model on their computer, but what is really called for is a browser based tool for incorporation of this technology directly into the story. How much more relevant is the story if the SDNN loads a map from your hyper-local community and allows you to see the effects of sea level rise in your neighborhood? Isn’t that what the San Diego News Network is supposed to be about?
I am excited about the potential and hopeful that SDNN is investing in bringing truly rich content to everyday news.
Tags: newspapers, SDNN, sea level rise