While there are mobile devices which can run Flash, using Flash should be avoided for both mobile sites and applications. For video, recent studies show that HTML 5 outperforms Flash on mobile devices.

Yesterday, Adobe announced that they will be ceasing development of the mobile version of Flash Player for mobile browsers in order to continue their focus on HTML5. This is huge news for any organization which uses Flash for mobile websites to deliver multimedia content or interactive graphics.

According to Adobe VP Danny Winokur, “HTML5 is now universally supported on major mobile devices, in some cases exclusively. This makes HTML5 the best solution for creating and deploying content in the browser across mobile platforms.” While these are strong words from Adobe, it’s important to note that any organization that begins to transition its Flash content to HTML5 must keep two important thoughts in mind.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Much like The New York Times here in the the U.S., the Guardian in the U.K. often makes use of infographics to tell stories, and give added dimensions to stories in other formats.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

WHEN: 8 weeks, May 24 – July 19
Online Chats: Tuesdays, 8-9 p.m. ET

WHERE: Online. Click here to register.

LEVEL: Intermediate/Advanced

In this class, we’ll explore the many interactive digital tools available to today’s journalist. Through weekly assignments, you’ll gain hands-on experience building maps, photo galleries, slideshows, and timelines, and learn how to use live-blogging and curation tools to take advantage of social media and real-time reporting.

In order to maximize the technology available, you have to know what tools are out there and when and how to use them. We’ll discuss innovative examples of journalism and technology to determine the best practices for developing your own tools and storytelling techniques. Students can opt to post stories and packages to their own blog or website, or contribute to a private class blog.

In this class, you will learn:

• How and when to use interactive online tools to enhance your reporting
• How to present and curate information using maps, video, photo galleries, slideshows, and timelines
• What role social media should play in your research, reporting, and promotion
• How to use a Content Management System and the basics of site management
• What you need to know about Flash as a journalist

By the end of this class, you will have:
A portfolio of interactive components to support your reporting including a map, video clip, photo gallery or slideshow, timeline, live-blog transcript, and curated social news package. You’ll also gain familiarity working with a Content Management System.

Click here to register today! As an added bonus for our faithful 10,000 Words reader, use the promotional code WORDS50 to get a $50 discount!

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

In late 2010, Google developed their new smart TV platform entitled Google TV. The service is built on the Android operating system, and functions as a set-top box to allow users to watch on-demand video services, such as YouTube, Google Reader, and Google Chrome. This integration allows users to subscribe to your site and have regular updates pushed to their Google TV devices (similar to an RSS feed with an RSS aggregator). Mobile phones and tablet devices are changing the landscape of the web for organizations, and soon you may even ask “how does my site look on TV”? This is especially important since Google TV will soon be able to access the Android Market, according to recent news. Since Google TV lies somewhere between mobile devices and desktops/laptops in terms of functionality and user experience, here are a few helpful guidelines to make sure your site is ready for prime time on Google TV.

Design for the Big Screen

According to the Leichtman Research Group, as of 2010, 61% of US households own at least one HDTV, with 26% owning more than one. These high resolution displays mean that there is an increased distance between the user to the television, which means that elements on websites need to be large enough to be seen across the room at a glance. Larger elements also means increased white space between elements. Lets take a look at the New York Times on Google TV.

New York Times on Google TV

Along with this, websites need to make sure that the most important information is at the top of the page. Web designers call this property “above the fold”, meaning that you include information at the top of a page to prevent users from scrolling vertically to find more information. Since HDTVs will more than likely be widescreen displays (either 720p or 1080p), this means that organizations should rely on either horizontal or grid navigation to make it easier for users to go through your site.

Function over Form

Keep in mind that the processors for most Google TV devices will be somewhere between your mobile phone and your desktop or laptop in terms of processing power. Google has partnered with Intel, Sony, Logitech for current Google TV devices, and new partnerships with Samsung and Vizio ensure that new, faster devices will be coming to the market by the holiday season. Websites designed for Google TV will need to be able to load quickly without a lot of extra animations or Flash videos. Google TV can display Flash content, but it will not be at the same speed as a desktop or laptop, so keep that in mind. Let’s take a look at Al Jazeera on Google TV.

Al Jazeera on Google TV

Make Navigation Big and Simple

One thing the Al Jazeera site illustrates is that you should also look to use access keys for navigation, such as arrow keys or letters on the keyboard. The mouse pointer on Google TV is small and hard to see, so enabling navigation by keyboard to access a menu or a section of the website creates a great user experience. The key is to simplify user navigation as much as possible. Primary actions for the user should be available in one click; don’t hide key features for your site in menus. You should also provide a legend to explain your keyboard-based navigation system. Don’t make your users think too much about how to navigate your website on Google TV, or else they may change the channel.

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

The Chrome Browser in Google TV supports the non-standard CSS property called zoom. What does this do, you ask? According to Sitepoint, this property controls the magnification level for the current element. This means that text, videos, and other elements on your page can be enlarged to allow for viewing across large distances or for visually impaired users. Because zoom is a non-standard property, you would probably have to test this on Google TV for troubleshooting purposes.

KQED on Google TV

Overall, these are just a few things developers can do to optimize news websites for Google TV. Other news organizations have already started developing for Google TV, including USA Today, Huffington Post, and KQED. Google has provided a full optimization guide, as well as a number of optimized templates. What news organizations have you seen on Google TV? Share your findings in the comments.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Take for instance the show-stopping interactive video produced exclusively for the company that featured models walking down a runway. As the models walked by, visitors could click a piece of clothing and immediately be taken to the site where the garment could be purchased. A recording of the video and the screenshot of the interactivity are below.

Another interesting UNIQLO feature was its Tokyo Fashion Map that combined 1,000 photos of people in various locations in Tokyo with a Google map that indicated where the photos were taken.

UNIQLO isn’t afraid to go off the beaten path with quirky tools like COLOR TWEET! that transform Twitter feeds or keywords into a colorful visual concoction.

Of course, UNIQLO has both an iPad and iPhone app. However, instead of using the mobile medium to push its own content, the company created a beautiful calendar app that is useful, fun to look at, and most importantly promotes brand awareness.

While the aforementioned projects may not relate to journalism explicitly, seeing how other creatives are using the web and media can inspire your own work. You can find more innovative projects from UNIQLO here.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The label “student journalist” for some may conjure up images of second-rate work that is not ready for prime time. However, the projects below show just how great the multimedia journalism produced by J-schools students are and the potential student groups have to create interesting, vibrant, and diverse multimedia news stories.

1. Hunger in the Golden State

A project of the USC Annenberg School for Journalism & Communication and California Watch, Hunger in the Golden State explores the problem of food scarcity and waste among California residents and what’s being done about it. The humanity of the stories included on the site is augmented by the different ways they are told: the site includes print stories, slideshows, radio broadcasts, and social media components.

2. BARThood

Students at UC Berkeley’s School of Journalism tell the stories of the patrons of BART — the San Francisco Bay Area transit system — in this comprehensive online news package. Among the text stories and slideshows that are common to this type of project, is an interesting data component for each BART station. A stylish data visualization appears on each page that illustrates statistics like the ethnicity and income level of riders and mode of transportation to the station.

3. Greening the Grid

Greening the Grid, a 2009 project of the students of the University of Miami School of Communication (look for online journalism titan Greg Linch among its participants), documents sustainable energy projects in the Czech Republic and the United States. Among the individual stories is this video that illustrates a farm powered by cow manure and this one documenting a 1981 Mercedes Benz powered by discarded vegetable oil.

4. Streets of Dreams: People and Places of Downtown Phoenix

The students of ASU’s Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications encourage you to follow along as they explore the passions of the residents of Phoenix, Arizona and the city they call home. The story of several Phoenix neighborhoods and the unique people who live there are illustrated by video, photo, and text stories.

5. Multimedia Standards

Unlike the previously mentioned projects, Multimedia Standards, also produced by University of Miami students focuses on the craft of journalism itself. Participants questioned leaders in online/digital journalism about the state of the industry and presented the recorded answers in an easily navigable grid. The site also includes a useful “Resources” page with links to RSS feeds to some of the top journalism blogs on the web.

6. Powering a Nation: The Truth About Energy

News21, a collaborative initiative of several universities across the United States, produces several outstanding multimedia projects every year. UNC Chapel Hill’s “Powering a Nation” is one of several standouts and tackles the issue of energy in the United States. Like other News21 projects, the site features print stories, interactive elements, and more. The students pushed the story even further by creating interactive news games that invite readers to solve real problems like balancing carbon emissions and energy use.

 
Also on 10,000 Words:

• 3 Ways journalism classes are making education more interactive
• News media and college students: A match made in heaven?
• Journalism Grads: 30 Things You Should Do This Summer

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

USA Today, like many other news media, created a Flash-based interactive graphic for which the viewer the viewer can use a slider to view the timeline of the spill. The interactivity is complemented by various level of information, including existing barriers and satellite imagery.

The New York Times, MSNBC, CNN, and the Times-Picayune each took a similar approach to visualizing the oil spill, using an interactive map and graphics indicating the size of the spill over time.

The (UK) Guardian not only includes a map of the spill in its presentation, but also incorporates photos of the wildlife that will likely be affected. Various images of ducks, whales, and turtles can be viewed by clicking on the camera icons.

The Associated Press also includes photos in its multimedia explanation of the threat. The AP interactive includes a photo slideshow of the downed rig and various other heart-stopping photos, as well as an interactive timeline of major oil rig accidents, dating back to the 1960s.

Currently the oil spill is still spreading out of control so it is safe to say that many of the above interactives will require continual updating. It will be interesting to see how the aforementioned news media will stay abreast of an ongoing problem and keep their projects fresh with the latest information available.

Also on 10,000 Words:

• Do you have a multimedia emergency plan?
• How the internet is changing how natural disasters are covered
• How online news media covered the 2010 Winter Olympics
• Simple and interactive guides to the health-care reform bill

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Perhaps the most interesting part of NBC’s Olympic coverage was its Olympic Tracker, a tree map of recent tweets about the Olympic Games. The visualization was created by Stamen Design, the company behind MTV’s VMA Tweet Tracker and San Francisco Crimespotting.

Many online news media like USA Today and the Los Angeles Times presented many different interactive infographics that explained the sometimes complex winter games and the strength and athleticism required to compete.

The New York Times was on a roll this Winter Games, producing a slew of multimedia and interactive projects, including an awe-inspiring guide to Vancouver’s Olympic venues. Notably, the Times’ interactive guide to Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili’s fatal crash was criticized for offering what some saw as too intimate of a guide to his final moments.

Boston.com’s The Big Picture regularly presents amazing photos surrounding a number of subjects and did not disappoint with its collection of images from Vancouver. The large photos capture the majesty of the 2010 Games.

The Google Street View cameras have documented many places around the world and in honor of the Vancouver Olympics, the team used a snowmobile to present views from the top of the mountains in Whistler and allowed users to take a sneak peek inside the Olympic Village.

Fans didn’t wait for news media to create coverage they wanted to see. Some took to Facebook to create a page for the Norwegian curling team’s unique pants. The Facebook page was taken down briefly, presumably because the page was not dedicated to a company or brand as required by Facebook. However, the page is back up and at last count had more than half a million fans of the colorful pants.

While NBC carried many of the Olympic Games online, the network’s US television broadcasts were heavily criticized, mostly because of the network’s lack of live television broadcasts. The lesson learned? While yesterday’s audiences were comfortable watching events long after they first happened, today’s audience wants its news immediately and not just online.

Also on 10,000 Words

• 10 Ways to improve online sports journalism
• How news media covered the 2008 presidential inauguration
• 8 Interactive online projects that educate and captivate

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

For example, this past Thanksgiving, The New York Times served up one of its signature interactive projects that visualized what people are eating. The map illustrates what classic holiday dishes are most popular in various sections of the U.S. The Times Online tracked what Britain eats in an interactive infographic that measures the popularity of certain foods over time.

To track the location of local farmers markets, The Washington Post created an interactive online map that readers can use to track local food and produce. If you prefer your vegetables on a burger or burrito, you can also use fastfoodmap.com — an interactive map of the locations of McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell, and more — to satisfy your food cravings.

CHOW.com, a site for recipes and other food-related resources, also has a mix of food-related video that teach users to make food and other stuff. In just a few minutes, you can learn to how to fold a wonton, how to prevent an avocado from browning, and how to clean a cast iron pan.

Food journalism and especially recipe guides are ripe for slideshows. BBC News paired photos and audio to explore the wild, yet edible foods found in the British countryside. The Times-Picayune whipped up “12 Dishes Under $12″ a video guide to great dishes from local restaurants. DNAinfo.com, the newly launched hyperlocal site covering the NYC borough of Manhattan, recently presented an interactive slideshow of dishes available during the city’s restaurant week.

Food journalism, as with all news subjects, can be invigorated with a little bit of multimedia and a lot of creativity, which in the end makes the topic more interesting for readers and viewers.

Also on 10,000 Words

• 5 Creative uses of Flash and interactive storytelling
• Exploring the human body with Flash and video
• 10 Inspirational New York Times multimedia and interactive features

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The L.A. Times also has a similar map and, in addition, has an adjacent timeline that plots landmark moments in the same-sex marriage and corresponds with the map.

The New Republic, like many other news sites, produced a slideshow that illustrates various points in the chronology of same-sex marriage.

CNN has invited couples of all sexualities to tell their own stories and submit video using iReport. The result is sort of a like niche YouTube that contains video dedicated to a specific topic.

GOOD Magazine took a unique approach to the debate by creating a flat graphic/flow chart that visualizes key arguments made for and against same-sex marriage.

Finally, KQED and The California Report have created a blog dedicated to the ongoing Prop 8 debate happening in California. The blog contains regular updates about what’s happening inside the court and includes quotes from witnesses and outside observers.

Also on 10,000 Words:

• 8 Interactive online projects that educate and captivate
• Post-Inauguration Wrap Up: High-tech coverage of the tech president
• 10 Inspirational New York Times multimedia and interactive features

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

BBC: Save Our Sounds

The BBC map is indicative of the latest trend in audio: collecting user-generated audio and displaying it on a map. For this ambitious project, visitors are invited to upload sounds from all over the world, which anyone can listen to by navigating around the interactive map. This means you can hear the purr of a cheetah in South Africa or listen to a wrestling match in Mongolia without ever leaving your couch.

Tracks on a Map

Tracks on a Map takes the user-generated audio concept in a different direction and lets users from all over the world upload music to the site, which allows the viewer to hear great music and how it differs from country to country.

Vocalo.org Local Music Map

The aforementioned maps are powered by complex databases, but the Local Music Map shows that audio and maps don’t have to be grand productions to be good. The map mashup catalogs the music scene of the Lake Michigan area and provides photos and links to some of the area’s local artists, venues and other music-related landmarks.

Soundtrack

This series of maps takes audio to a new and innovative level by taking the viewer or an audio tour of various locales. As the audio plays, the adjacent dynamic map moves to indicate where the audio was recorded. The technology is a combination of Google Maps, Quicktime and Javascript and is reminiscent of Vidmap which combines maps and video in the same way.

Cold War Kids: I’ve Seen Enough

Indie rock band Cold War Kids used the web to create an interactive music video where fans can toggle on and off each member of the band as they play the song “I’ve Seen Enough.” The effect is sort of like a mixing board where the viewer can listen to one or all of the band members play at the same time.

Interactive Band

The Flash-animated band is a lot like the Cold War Kids experience, only with more instruments and a groovy samba beat. Users can again toggle between the different band members and, if neither French or Spanish is your first language, learn a few bits of the languages as well.

Buckle Drum Set

This virtual drum set is proof that interactive audio experiences don’t have to be all fun and games. If you want to learn the basics of how to play the drums but aren’t yet willing to drop the cash on a whole set, you can use this Flash-based interactive to learn the various parts and sounds of a drum set.

dothedaft.com

If electronic music is more your thing, The Daft Punk Console allows users to recreate and remix the Daft Punk hits “Technologic” and “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” (famously sampled by Kanye West) using an interactive interface.

in Bb 2.0

This online collection of YouTube videos combines both user-generated content, an interactive audio experience and just plain fun into one cool project. A variety of musicians recorded themselves playing individual instruments and uploaded the video to YouTube to create one big collaborative song. You can play any combination of the embedded videos to create a unique harmony that sounds pretty great no matter which video you choose.

Economía musical

This last project is proof that news infographics don’t have to be boring. This series of charts from lainformacion.com takes what would otherwise be another sad bar chart about the failing economy and turns it into a fun interactive, musical experience.

Also on 10,000 Words

• How to create, edit and embed audio for free
• 9 Tips for recording audio for the web
• 5 Creative uses of Flash and interactive storytelling
• A is for Audio: The ABCs of Multimedia

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

PHOTO EDITING: Photoshop
Free: Splashup

Photoshop may be the industry leader when it comes to photo editing and graphic design, but Splashup, a free online tool, has many of the same capabilities at a much cheaper price. Splashup has lots of the tools you’d expect to find in Photoshop and has a similar layout, which is a bonus for those looking to get started right away. Splashup isn’t the only free online photo editing program, check out this list of 20 more.

WEB DESIGN: Dreamweaver
Free: KompoZer

Looking to create your next web site without paying big money for programs like Dreamweaver? KompoZer, a free web design program available for immediate download, is great for both novice web designers and professional webheads who need more advanced editing features.

VIDEO: Final Cut, Adobe Premiere
Free: iMovie, JayCut

Many video editors, both novice and professional, use iMovie to create professional-looking videos and an amateur price. The program is included on modern Macs as part of the iLife package and has the basic features editors need as well as few advanced extras such as detachable audio and image stabilization. JayCut is an online video editor that lets registered users upload and edit their video for free. You can even add photos, audio and effects to your project. The final edited video can be shared on the web or downloaded directly to a computer.

AUDIO: ProTools, Adobe Audition
Free: Audacity, GarageBand

Audacity is a comprehensive audio editor with many of the capabilities of its costly competitors. The program, which is available for a free download lets users record and edit everything from simple audio tracks to complex professional work. GarageBand, which is included on modern Macs along with iMovie and iPhoto, takes a simple approach to audio editing and has the added capability of creating enhanced podcasts with photos, chapter markers and more. Find even more free audio editing programs here.

SLIDESHOWS: Soundslides
Free: PhotoPeach

Until recently there was no other slideshow tool that could compete upload Soundslides’ flexibility and easy-to-use interface…until now. PhotoPeach lets users upload and order photos using a drag and drop interface, upload an MP3 audio file from a computer, add captions for individual photos and embed the final slideshow anywhere on the net. All this is familiar to anyone who has ever used Soundslides, but PhotoPeach offers all this and more for free, making it a strong substitute for Soundslides.

INTERACTIVE MEDIA: Flash
Free: Effect Generator

Effect Generator, a free online tool, lets anyone create common Flash elements such as slideshows, graphics, and embedded videos. Once you’ve created your effect the generator emails a link where you can access the Flash file you created. The layout differs from Flash and takes some getting used to but is a great alternative, especially for those just starting to learn Flash.

WORD PROCESSING: Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
Free: Google Docs

Many of the programs and tools on this list are substitutions for existing program. With Google Docs, you’ll never want to touch Microsoft Office again. The free online tool lets anyone with a Google account create documents, spreadsheets and presentations as well as share the document for collaborative editing or viewing. Google Docs is accessible from any computer with an internet connection or you can work offline or download your finished work directly to your computer. You can even upload your existing documents into Google Docs.

Also on 10,000 Words:

• 21 Free online photo editing tools
• Where to find free sound effects and royalty-free music
• How to edit your video online for free or cheap
• How to create, edit and embed audio for free
• Essential multimedia tutorials and resources for do-it-yourself training

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Jordan: History of Flight

The storied career of basketball legend Michael Jordan is told through this interactive timeline that uses eye-catching and interactive graphics to make Jordan’s story even more powerful.

HBO Imagine: The Affair

Cable channel HBO knows what makes a good story and has a whole rack of awards to prove it. It’s latest foray into interactive online storytelling is this narrative that tells a single story from four different perspectives.

UNIQLO

To showcase its 2009 collection, clothing retailer UNIQLO created an interactive runway where users can select a model and read more about the clothes they are wearing. It’s unique interface creates a more dynamic shopping experience.

What’s the Real Cost?

This interactive Flash game developed by health insurance non-profit Regence seeks to educate users on the hidden fees and bureaucracy often associated with American health care system. Like most Flash games, it is fun but subliminally educational.

A Journey Beyond

Sure it’s a clever way to sell more monogram bags, but Louis Vuitton’s interactive conversation between astronauts Jim Lovell, Sally Ride and Buzz Aldrin is nevertheless brilliant. It is clever not only in its use of Flash, but in creating an immersive experience that draws the viewer in to the stories of the three history makers.

The aforementioned sites took a lot of time and exceptional talent to create, but it doesn’t mean novice or intermediate Flash users can’t take some of the basic storytelling and interaction techniques and apply them to their own stories. Flash has a wide range of capabilities and it takes just a little imagination and effort to create something new and unique.

Haven’t yet mastered the basics of Flash? Check out the Flash tutorials available at w3schools.com, kirupa.com and lynda.com.

Also on 10,000 Words:

• Where to find the best in Flash journalism
• 3 reasons journalists shouldn’t use Flash
• 8 Flash tips and tricks + one big cheat sheet
• How to save time when using Flash

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Congress Speaks

It’s safe to say that the members of Congress talk a great deal while in session. In total, more than 14.5 million words were spoken in the 110th Congress. Congress Speaks is a fun, interactive guide to who was speaking those words and how often. From the site we know that California Congressman Joe Baca spoke more than 24,000 words during the session and, from the small word cloud that accompanies each Congressperson, his focus was on families, children and food.

Capitol Words

A more timely and serious approach to tracking Congress, Capitol Words, a project of the Sunlight Foundation, tracks the most frequently spoken words said on the Hill. The data can be viewed a number of ways, including a bar chart that highlights the most commonly spoken words, a heat map that visualizes the most vocal states, and few other bar charts that highlight the most and least vocal Congresspeople. The words are also sortable by day, week, month, session, Congressperson and are searchable by topic.

The Washington Post: POTUS Tracker

The Post has made it easier to find out where the president has been at any given time with its POTUS Tracker, an interactive database that uses a tree map to visualize where the president has been and what issues he discussed. The database can be sorted by issues, the type of meeting or venue, and by those in attendance. Clicking further into the project reveals a tailored list of the president’s actions in relation to the selected category. The database also has an accompanying RSS feed for keeping track of President Obama 24/7.

PolitiFact

After the 2008 election, the now Pulitzer-prize winning site PolitiFact shifted its focus to President Obama and the rest of Washington. The site’s Obameter tracks the campaign promises the president made during his campaign on categorizes them as Kept, Unkept, No Action, and a few other categories. The tool is remarkable in that traditional media have long been passive about holding candidates accountable for the promises made to voters.

The site still features its Truth-O-Meter, a holdover from the campaign season that analyzes the statements of key political figures and rates them on a scale from True to “Pants on Fire.”

USA Today: Presidential Approval Tracker

There are obviously a lot of words flowing from lawmakers’ mouths, but what does the American public actually think of its current and past Commanders in Chief? USA Today has created an insightful interactive chart that compares past presidents’ approval ratings — from Harry Truman to Barack Obama. Users can select and two or more presidents and compare their standings while in office and adjust the graph by date.

For more online political tools and visualizations, including perspctv and FiveThirtyEight, check out the previous post 15 Ways to follow the 2008 election online.

Also on 10,000 Words:

• 10 Inspirational New York Times multimedia and interactive features
• News databases: Turning numbers into knowledge
• 8 Ways of visualizing the news
• Where to find the best in Flash journalism

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

That said as wonderful a program as Flash is and despite its limitless possibilities there are several reasons why newsrooms should just say no.

1. Flash projects take a long time to create

When brainstorming how to incorporate Flash into upcoming multimedia projects, many journalists and editors don’t take into account how time-consuming it is to build even the most basic Flash project. Whereas with a print story, the writer can simply stop writing at any moment and not include further points or ideas, the process of creating keyframes, tweens, and coding a project takes a significant time to create complete. Flash is only done when it’s done.

2. Many projects don’t need to be animated

Journalists get excited when they see Flash projects with eye-catching animation and thus are tempted to make everything move, swish, zoom or fly across the screen in their own projects. Journalists should first decide if the multimedia project even needs to be built in the program and that Flash isn’t being used just because it’s cool. If it is decided that Flash is a great fit for a particular story, the producer should restrain his or herself and not go overboard with animation. At its foundation, a Flash project is still about telling a story.

3. Most journalists are not designers

Flash is okay to use as long as the conventional rules of web design are not ignored. Those who interact with Flash projects expect the layout and navigation to mirror traditional websites with the added bonus of interactivity. Because the average journalist isn’t schooled in the fundamentals of design or user interaction, a Flash project should first be sketched or storyboarded by professional designer who is well-versed on how readers interact with visual stories or graphics.

Of course there are many reasons why journalists should use Flash, among them its versatility and its power to draw in the passive user. The following are three multimedia journalism stories that are proof of the power Flash has to bring stories to life.

1. National Geographic: Kingdom of the Blue Whale

2. Las Vegas Sun: Construction Deaths

3. Lainformacion.com: Día de la Música

Also on 10,000 Words:

• Where to find the best in Flash journalism
• How to save time when using Flash
• How did they do that? How to deconstruct websites and Flash files
• 8 Flash tips and tricks + one big cheat sheet

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.