Media coverage

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Everyday convergence

KU unveils fieldhouse seating results, May 28

When officials at the University of Kansas athletic department announced their controversial plan to "re-seat" all of the Jayhawk basketball season ticket holders based upon a donation points system, the Journal-World and its local media partners went about building one of the most converged local packages the organization had ever built for a "one-off" story.

Once Journal-World senior reporter Dave Ranney knew all of the elements of the story, he began working with the newspaper's online staff to develop content that would better explain the new ticket plan to readers.

LJWorld.com programmers built an online calculator that pulls together a very close approximation of how many points someone has after that person answers related questions. (We would say that it exactly shows the points totals, but if you've read the pamphlet from KUAC, there is a lot of ambiguity and poor writing that is almost impossible to pinpoint.) The online staff then worked to put together an interactive map of Allen Fieldhouse that illuminates different sections of the arena seating chart based upon selecting what point total you have, or are interested in acquiring. The interactive seating chart also shows the reader (through a series of several photographs) what the actual view of the court is from the different sections.

Online editors also scanned into the pamphlet that KUAC mailed to season-ticket holders, and typed in the key sections.

News6 did a follow-up that evening that was promoted in both print and onlne that had some community reaction to the plan, as well as other information from KUAC officials. 6News also did a reader poll on its Web site that was promoted on the newscast, as well as a reference to the extra context on the Web. The 6News follow-up also was referenced in the Friday morning edition of the newspaper.

Also, on Friday morning, an e-mail was sent by the online staff to thousands of KUsports.com readers informing them of not only the stories, but of all of the tools on the site that could show them their points and possible seats. Full story.

Chancellor: KU wants to be good neighbor, May 14

University of Kansas Chancellor Robert Hemenway came down to the Journal-World news room on Thursday , May 14, for his first-ever online chat. This chat was promoted in print for a couple of days, and had plenty of wide-ranging questions ready for the chancellor when he arrived. Journal-World education reporter Terry Rombeck worked with the newspaper's online staff to select the questions and moderate the chat. During the chat, a photo was posted during the chat as it was going on live.

The chancellor took 10 questions during the half-hour chat, typed all the answers in himself, touching on some issues such as university encroachment into the surrounding neighborhoods, the new athletic director's salary, KU's image across the state, and the controversy over the initial distribution of tickets to see former president Bill Clinton speak on campus.

After the chat was over, Rombeck wrote the story for not only print, but also wrote the script for News6 to use during its video voice-over segment about the chat. Read story.

Lawrence district strives to make schools secure, April 20

Deanna Richards, of the 6News television staff, wanted to put together a multimedia package on the five-year anniversary of Columbine tragedy and its effects on Lawerence schools that included her not only doing video packages for 6News, but also writing the 1A stories for the Journal-World. The online version of the story included archived stories, as well as "On The Street" initially from the print edition that featured quotes from four folks in Lawrence, that also allowed online readers to post their thoughts. Read story.

What's the matter with Kansas?, April 25

In the April issue of Harper's magazine, the cover story recast the question first asked famously in 1896 by Emporia Gazette editor William Allen White in his Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial: "What's the matter with Kansas?" This time, the question was posed by Thomas Frank, a former Kansas University student who is now a contributing editor at Harper's, who came to the conclusion that corporate conservatism had consumed state's proud populist past.

When Journal-World reporter Dave Ranney wrote a story examining the article, it turned into a model of multimedia storytelling when television is not an easy option. The online version of the story included an excerpt of the Harper's story, the full text of White's original editor, and a long-style essay written in 1954 that examines the original editorial and a 1950s New York Times version of it. The online story also included audio clips with the author the Harper's article, as well as a print and Web component which asked readers to give their thoughts. Read story.

Fresh from the farm, May 5

Journal-World photographer Thad Allender turned what could have been a fairly typical weekly "food" story into a much more personal look at a Kansas family who raises chickens for organic eggs. Using audio interviews with the family, Allender built an online-only multimedia package that fused the voices of the family and sounds of the farm with his photos. Read story.

Kasold crumbling, April 16

When Journal-World city reporter Joel Mathis begain writing a story about a street that many considered to be the worst in Lawrence, he put together a multimedia package that included his print story, an idea for graphic to be used in the newspaper and online, a live video report for News6, and a look at archived stories about the topic. Read story.

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