Over the past 14 years a community on Detroit’s east side has been crumbling due to government neglect.  After three terms of mayors breaking their promises to buy out the neighborhood to create a buffer zone for the nearby airport, residents are left feeling hopeless.  They live amongst vacant lots and dilapidated houses.   You can read the story here.  The story can’t show you the remaining residents or the size of the area affected, but Jonathan Morgan’s unique work can.

Morgan is the multiplatform editor at the Detroit News who primarily helps reporters figure out how best to use multimedia for their stories and teaches the techies advanced technology so they can do “more fancy stuff.”  He learned about this community in Detroit and was compelled to help its residents understand what was happening to them. 

Beyond heading a project to clean up the local park, Fletcher Field, Morgan recognized the multimedia potentials of the story and created a blog, Living in the Shadow of City Airport to show the full range of the community’s plight.  His multimedia skills allowed him to intertwine boring policy information and a very touching human element, a tactic that plain old newspaper stories just don’t have the ability to do. 

Late on Wednesday night I interviewed Morgan after he had finished teaching his journalism class at the University of Michigan, a class focused on teaching students the multimedia and reporting skills Morgan used for the story he told me about in this interview.   He explained to me the importance of multimedia and how commonly it is misused. 

 

How did you get involved in multimedia?

I took a different trajectory than most people because I was a communications science major and a writing and math minor.  For six years of my career I was a programmer but always went back to the idea of journalism in my mind. When I went to NYU five years ago I recognized that multimedia was important but was more interested in reporting and writing.  Once I got into the work world

I got into multimedia as one who knew about all the underlying technologies and could work with people who knew video and mapping in a way that ties together and lets users interact.

What do you like about multimedia?

It has a lot of potential, but a lot of people get wowed by multimedia and forget the reporting and the storytelling.  In my book if you have a story that doesn’t lend itself to video then it won’t work, unless you are just practicing the technology.

What is a hard part about doing multimedia?

The challenge is to take each component of a story and tie them together.  Multimedia is better than print at analyzing parts of stories and figuring how to best to tell them.

Where do you see problems?

Newspapers tend to want to make video, and want to have audio, but don’t always take the time throughout the process of reporting to pick parts that make compelling video, or parts where you want sound but don’t need moving pictures behind it.  They need to be better with resource management.

What is one of your favorite projects that you have done?

The map on our blog, Living in the Shadow of City Airport.  We had been in the neighborhood, reporting and puzzling over how we could really get someone to understand what its like to be there.  So we got a newspaper reporter to write an article about plight of the neighborhood but it didn’t do a very good job about what it was really like there and what the effects of the policy problems were.  So I figured out what information we had and what the different parts of the story were and thought of a way to show it so people could explore the neighborhood.  We wanted it to feel like they were wandering around but to also provide statistics and data on who owned what houses and how that illustrated the plan to expand the airport. 

Space constraints and reporting constraints didn’t have space to do that.

How long did it take?

Over 3 days we took pictures and noted where pictures were taken.  We collected ownership information and vacant lot information and then used the computer to map it.  Then we gave it to the flash guy who overlaid it over a satellite map from google.  He took different sets of data already mapped and made layers to put on top of the first map so you could see underlying stuff: which houses were owned by the city, which were vacant, which were planned for acquisitions.   Then the reader has the opportunity to turn on whatever information they wanted.

But we still felt that it didn’t do a very good job of providing a visual idea so we added pictures to points on the map that were clickable and then would pop up.    

So the map with color-coding and points gave the data a sense of perspective and we also got the human element with the pictures  It is one thing to see devastation in the area but a whole other thing to talk to the people who live there.

What other elements were there to supplemented the story?

We added the video that was a separate click away but popped up on right hand side.   It was a lady who does the neighborhood watch and guides us through the neighborhood and we just went with her with a video camera.  We also talked to a guy who has lived there for years and got his perspective on how it has changed. 

It is the same kind of thing as if you try to write it but will be different for every story.  This one we had resources to make a cool interactive thing and could go back if we missed something.

What equipment did you use?

For pictures on the map we had a few by professional photographers with fancy cameras and some pictures we did with tiny point and click cameras.  What you find with online is that there is no real difference between a pretty good point and click or a professional one. 

For the video we ended up having a videographer come with us and shoot the video because it was 20 degrees out and really windy.  Since we could spend the money and thought it would be valuable we used him.  I don’t really like two minute-long videos because you need very compelling stuff and have to do a good job putting it together to get people to watch it.

We were able to get this done in 2 or 3 days because I knew the story and the people and the neighborhood well enough that we could grab the stuff we needed and it was easy to tie together.  It was the result of a whole lot of reporting.

Who was involved?

Me, a videographer and a flash guy.

What editing system did you use?

The professional videographers we have use final cut.  You can use whatever you want iMovie, Windows movie maker.  I usually tell people its better to do simple not so well produced video and to think about what video does well.

What did the printed story miss that the multimedia was able to better capture?

Well it did a fine job at what it was meant to do, which was to tell a policy story.

She did as good a job as one can in a strict print article of giving an idea of effect of this policy- she described the neighborhood, talked to residents and had them give their reaction to what was happening.

How did you have such a strong connection to the neighborhood?

Seeing the problems was the start of it, and hearing people’s reaction to it.  I got interested because I was trying to help understand what had happed to the city and then I ended up helping residents understand, because some of them really didn’t.  The region itself as still not come to grips with what happened.  I wanted to point out its worthwhile to come back even if you left a long time ago.  It wasn’t to show people how to come back but to show what it was like so they could base ideas on reality instead of on fear and time.

Hopefully, eventually, the thought is if we get enough people to know and understand that they’d be willing to help or even just to visit.  So, to have a blog, where you can tell it in pieces and over time, people can begin to understand what is happening, why and when

What problems if any arose during those few days?

The biggest problem was that it was cold, but it went pretty smoothly.

Analysis is another thing too because once you do all that reporting have to look at it and decide the most logical way to use the multimedia to put it together.   You need to think about the multimedia aspects while reporting or you will miss pieces.  I saw a map and so when I was there I grabbed information, ownership information, where houses were.  So I recognized parts of the story early on.  If I hadn’t been doing that and had to grab this stuff once my article was done it wouldn’t have happened- it wouldn’t have been enough time. 

What about problems in general on the Detroit news site with multimedia?

You can see the one issue if you look at how much fancy multimedia we have versus how many pictures, audio, and map.  There’s only about six or seven more elaborate media and the majority of what we are doing is text or photos. The time investment, even though we did it in 2 days, is usually intense for multimedia.  A lot of times we don’t have that time.   

Part of what you get with newspapers right now is that the budget thing is so hard.  There are usually big resource needs for something so because we don’t have software programming guys I do a lot of that now.  Small rooms and staffing right now prevents organizations from doing a lot of cool stuff with media. 

What would you like to see in the future for multimedia?

I’d like to see better storytelling – not wasting video on a story that can be written and better combinations of media.   I’d like to see it done more appropriately and more selectively for the right pieces to make it more effective.  Definitely need to have people thinking about it earlier in the reporting to get the best media without adding on a whole lot more work.

Do you have any advice for aspiring multimedia journalists?

If you can report thoroughly, and are good at it and care about the audience, that will make your story; that’s what journalism needs right now.  And if you can do video to help story then better, much better.

 

Sir Charles Matthews was afraid of computers six years ago. He didn’t know what they could do and had no idea how to use them beyond sending emails. Today, the 64-year-old is involved in a lawsuit to receive royalties for music that he wrote over 30 years ago that has been used online without his permission. He found out his music was being pirated by researching himself on the web.

 

Matthews, in an old blue suit with a red tie and opaque sunglasses, embodied the essence of soul, and his raspy voice added a sense of funk to his personality. He was a student of OATS two years ago and his gratitude for the organization is clear when he speaks about how wonderful the internet is and all the amazing things it showed him. I interviewed Sir Charles, as he likes to go by, at a rally that OATs held on OneWebDay to demand more internet services for senior citizens.

“The computer has allowed me to be part of another world,” said Matthews. “I keep in touch with friends from Russia, Africa, Italy. And I can visit the Louvre in Paris, which I haven’t been to in years.” Matthews started a career I the music business as an opera singer, but a stroke early in his life ended that path. He became a jazz writer, and worked with people like Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix. YouTube is one of Matthew’s favorites because he loves see concerts and hear records that he never thought he’d be able to do.

You can check out his music, sung by the Village Soul Choir, often on the early years of Sesame Street, here.

Dee Dougherty, Matthews’ former teacher at OATS, told me “you can put in the curriculum to teach email, and research and awareness of the news and medical resources, but it’s the personal stories like Charles’ experience that show how technology is important for everyone, especially those who feel left behind.”

Matthews gave me his phone number after I videotaped our interview at the rally, but when I called him to set up a date and place to continue he told me he wouldn’t be able to help me anymore. He said that because he is in the middle of his lawsuit over the pirated music he didn’t want to be filmed anymore.

I’ve set up an interview with Mrs. Ida Harris, a senior citizen who declines to give me her age, but who went from no knowledge of computers to heading the research for OATS Senior Planet, a social community for older adults. More on that interview to come.

Early Monday morning senior citizens and others associated with Older Adults Technology Services (OATS) gathered on the steps of New York City’s city hall to rally for “technology support and funding for seniors now!”  Several members of the crowd looked ready for Halloween dressed in cavewomen outfits, carrying plastic clubs and wearing signs proclaiming, “Technology Good” and “Stoneage Bad.”       

OATS employees and their students were celebrating One Web Day, internet users’ version of Earth Day.  Since 2006, bloviators, innovators, entrepreneurs, technologically challenged and plain old nerds, have designated September 22 to the beauty of the internet.  Created by Susan Crawford, a professor of law specializing in Internet issues at the University of Michigan, One Web Day was started to connect people who care to defend and protect the internet as a democratic tool and to recognize the potential and power of the technology.  The holiday has gained world-wide recognition with events held this year in Melbourne, London, Paris, Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Singapore, Tunisia, and elsewhere.

The day’s focus this year was to “advocate for political protection of the internet as a democratic tool,” planned to coincide with this year’s elections.

 After the rally on city hall’s steps, a crowd gathered in the southeast corner of Washington Square Park to hear speakers praise the internet and explain their various agendas for harnessing the internet. 

Some notable speakers included:

            – Creator of OneWebDay Susan Crawford

            – Craig Newmark of Craigslist

            – SJ Klein of One Laptop Per Child

            – John Perry Barlow from the Electronic Frontier Foundation

            – Tim Westergren, creator of Pandora

The guests discussed how old web policies still own ideas and the need for all people and communities to take charge and become better connected.

John Perry Barlow said “When we called it the Electronic Frontier Foundation, as opposed to the Electronic Freedom Foundation, we knew there was going to be a serious dispute between all of those institutions and humans and groups that had had power during the industrial period and all those groups that were going to arise in digital media and seek that power through openness of information.  That fight goes on continuously.” 

 The group of speakers and listeners made me think of hippies – hippies for the internet – and some seemed rather nerdy as well.  Their earthy tones and calm natures couldn’t hide their passion and impressive knowledge about what is going on with the internet today, how it is being controlled and how the fight to provide internet for all and to be granted the rights to your own information continues. 

One of the most interesting things mentioned at the event was a news challenge that will give away $5 million in 2009 for the development and distribution of neighborhood and community-focused projects, services, and programs.”  Learn about the challenge at newschallenge.org and visit garage.newschallenge.org to see the proposed projects thus far.  

The digital divide isn’t a visible problem to anyone, especially those who are well connected and well informed.  But, a lot of New Yorkers, and people around the world, have been left in the dark when it comes to technology, especially the internet – arguably the most important technology today.  The virtually ubiquitous use of the internet for communication, networking, jobs and information gathering, means those who don’t have access, are scared to learn, or are too uninformed to recognize its significance, are left out of society’s most valued aspects of life.  

This blog will document my investigation into the world of the digital divide from all angles: who is left out, who is too enveloped, who doesn’t care, who doesn’t need it, and who really does?  What could bridging this gap mean for society and individuals?  What are the solutions? I’ll be experimenting with multimedia to tell the story of the divide.