The news coverage of Snow Fall was a successful piece in many ways. Reading this six chapter article didn’t read like any other news piece. If it had been the common upside down pyramid, where all the information was at the top, I wouldn’t have hung on to every word. This news story was almost like a book, a REAL story that captures the attention of many readers. Not only was the story intriguing but with the help of media, this news story was brought to life.
Right in the beginning, the reader meets a person who was in the Avalanche, Elyse. Not only does the reader get a small part of her story through the writing, but there is also a small photo gallery to click on the see what she looks like and a video of her talking about her experience. Every person who also went skiing got the same treatment, they had a photo gallery and a small history of themselves for the reader to understand who the person was. What I liked about the photo gallery was that it didn’t disrupt the story. I could either skip the photo gallery and settle for the little pictures of each person on at the right end of the article or I could click their names and go through photos. I feel like this is a great way to tell the story without overwhelming the reader with a huge slideshow or pictures that would interrupt the story every paragraph a new person is introduced.
Another great feature of media used is the 3D mapping. At an appropriate moment, when Tunnel Creek was being explained, a virtual map came up to show where exactly the location of the skiing adventure was. This is a great way to inform readers who don’t know about Steven’s Pass. There was also a simulated map to show where every person was on tunnel creek and which way they skied before the avalanche happened. This was also another great use of media because at times I would get confused with where everyone was while reading. Having an interactive image helped me understand better where each person was and who was in danger of being hurt.
Every media used from pictures to videos to maps was extremely helpful to the news report. There was no added information or maps that seemed pointless or videos that seemed like it was just put in for the sake of having media. A story that could have used this type of reporting was the earthquake in Italy. Natural disasters should be able to be reporting in this large scale so that people can understand better where these incidents happened with help of video, 3D mapping, and pictures to capture the full effect of devastation.