John Branch - FishbowlNY

New York Times’ ‘Snow Fall’ Piece is a Huge Hit

Chris O'Shea — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 13:40:13 +0000

We loved The New York Times’ amazing “Snow Fall” piece, written by John Branch. It turns out a lot of other people did, too.

According to a Times memo obtained by Jim Romenesko, the feature grabbed 3.5 million page views, was shared over 10,000 times on Twitter, and at its peak (no pun intended), was visited by 22,000 people at once.

“The Times is a premiere online destination for news and information, but rarely have we been able to create a compelling destination outside the home page that was so engaging in such a short period of time on the Web,” wrote Jill Abramson, in the memo.

For the full note, click through.

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New York Times’ ‘Snow Fall’ Article is Newspaper Web Design at Its Best

Chris O'Shea — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 10:43:06 +0000

“Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek,” by New York Times reporter John Branch is a powerful and cautionary tale of skiers caught in an avalanche. The first part of the article is up now, and trust us when we tell you that when you click through you’ll be blown away.

Yes, Branch’s words are great, but design and the layout of the piece is truly fantastic. It is stunning. At the top of the piece is a giant photograph of the side of a snow covered mountain. As you scroll down, the picture slides away and nothing but clean text is visible. No ads; just words.

Then, as you continue to read and scroll, photos of the skiers appear. As you keep going toward the bottom, the page darkens slightly and you’re greeted with an aerial guide to Cowboy Mountain, where the avalanche happened.

We can’t wait to read/view the rest of this piece. Hopefully the Times takes note of the praise it’s getting and does more of this.

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New York Times and WNYC Radio Win 2012 Dart Awards

Chris O'Shea — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 12:25:24 +0000

The Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma from Columbia Journalism School has awarded The New York Times and WNYC the 2012 Dart Awards. The Times won for its three-part series on Derek Boogaard, a former NHL player who died from brain injuries. The collective piece, titled “Punched Out: The Life and Death of a Hockey Enforcer,” was created by John Branch, Marcus Yam, Shayla Harris and Josh Williams.

WNYC received a Dart Award for “Living 9/11,” a documentary series which guides people through some of the many lives that were tremendously impacted by 9/11. Credits for “Living 9/11″ include: Marianne McCune, Emily Botein, Karen Frillman, Fred Mogul, Beth Fertig, Eric Leinung, Jillian Suarez, Erin Reeg, Norhan Basuni, Courtney Stein, Sanda Htyte, Kaari Pitkin, Chris Bannon, Andy Lanset, John Ellis, Paul Schneider and Jim Briggs III.

The winners will be honored May 3 at the Columbia Journalism School.

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