In online journalism, it is just as important to provide your readers with engaging visuals as it is compelling text. Just ask Matt Atchity, the editor-in-chief of Rotten Tomatoes, whose famous red and green “Tomatometer” has become an iconic part of the site’s design.

When Mediabistro asked Atchity for the key to making sites more engaging, his answer was simple: great visuals.

“Users never get tired of photo galleries,” he said. “As long as the user experience is good (i.e. not reloading the entire page for each new picture), photo slide shows are something that audiences really respond to. Slide shows with good captions are an easy traffic win for online writers and producers.”

For the full interview, read So What Do You Do, Matt Atchity, Editor-in-Chief of Rotten Tomatoes?

– Andrea Hackett

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Imagine then an image tagged with YouTube videos, audio from SoundCloud, tweets, photos from Flickr, songs from iTunes, Wikipedia pages and even links to e-commerce sites like Amazon and eBay.

In just a few, painless clicks, ThingLink lets users do just that. After creating an account and logging in, the site lets you easily upload images from Facebook, Flickr, a website or your computer and then tag the pictures with rich media content. You don’t have to leave the page you’re on — all the content is embedded within the photo.

See how news organizations could have used ThingLink with this well-known photograph. (Just hover your mouse over the dots.)

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Following in the footsteps of its parent company, The Boston Globe has opened up its photo archives in a new online showcase featuring historic photographs from the paper’s 140-year history.

A photo of the Boston Common from April 1910. Image courtesy of the Boston Globe Archive

The collection, known as “From The Archives,” will be updated every Thursday with three to five photos from 1872 — when the paper, then called “The Boston Daily Globe”, first started — to present day. One important thing to note: “From The Archives” is only for print and digital subscribers.

The news organization’s photo editors will “compile the galleries from more than a million staff photographs, many of which are being digitized for the first time,” said the press release. Many will be based on a specific event or theme. This week, the photos all have something to do with the Boston Common. Read more

In an ever evolving media landscape, it can be challenging to figure out how to present multimedia in a graceful way. And while there can be a lot of lamenting over new media eclipsing more traditional forms of journalism, it can also be used to enhance the time-honored forms of storytelling. This was certainly the case for the New York Times journalist Amy Harmon’s recent piece “Autistic and Seeking a Place in an Adult World.” Harmon, a Pulitzer Prize winner, followed a young man with autism named Justin Canha for a year. She wrote an engaging narrative, delving into the complexities and challenges that Canha, a budding animator/illustrator, faced as he made his way into adulthood.

The Times added another dimension to Harmon’s already captivating account with multimedia “quick links.” These links not only showed Canha’s quirks through video and his talent for drawing, but provided an important facet to understanding his character and experience. It is the perfect example of how multimedia can be used to complement a more traditional piece, the powers of print, photo and video woven into one experience. I spoke to Harmon about the piece, which drew attention from journalists and Silicon Valley types alike. Read more

For multi-platform journalists, presentation is often just as important as information when it comes to telling your stories. Some journalists go for a simple approach, such a social media profile which chronicles their adventures in the field with links to interesting topics of discussion. Others are more bold, as is the case with BOLD Edition.

The website’s credo (and corresponding video trailer) illustrate their concept beautifully.

/bōld/, not hesitating or fearful in the face of actual or possible danger or rebuff; courageous and daring; not hesitating to break the rules of propriety; beyond the usual limits of conventional thought or action; imaginative; striking or conspicuous to the eye; flashy; showy.

“BOLD Edition exists based on the premise that every story exhibits figurative or literal elements that embody The Bold,” says Clarence Smith Jr., editor-in-chief. BOLD Edition stories are comprised of thoughtful storytelling, compelling original photography, and beautifully shot video trailers.

BOLD Edition’s first story — “The Sting” — chronicles a cyclist’s journey on retrieving his rare bicycle that was stolen by a local criminal. Through the use of video and photography, BOLD Edition transforms this into a gripping tale of redemption and justice. BOLD Edition is an amazing example of how multi-platform journalism can really give a more well-rounded yet nuanced perspective into everyday stories.

Find out more about BOLD Edition at http://www.boldedition.com, or you can follow BOLD Edition on Facebook and Twitter.