Many media outlets seem to be investing in dressing up their online content.
When I check out the links that get most frequently Tweeted or sent my way, I typically see in-depth articles that have been jazzed up for the web. Publishers now use full-screen headline images, embedded links and graphics, and just about every other trick in the book to make web stories feel different.
Here are two examples from this past week … and one article about the band Weezer:
Still paying for the Civil War (5/9/14, Wall Street Journal): Example #1 comes from an unexpected place: the Wall Street Journal.
But look at how a seemingly “old guard” company dolls up this story by Michael M. Phillips. Beyond the full-screen headline, a different photo appears after every few paragraphs. It makes for a unique — and pleasing — presentation.
The article itself is fascinating. Phillips looks into a rarely reported fact: how the U.S. government pays billions annually to military veterans, their spouses, and their children. He focuses on the head-turning story of Irene Triplett. Her father married so late in life to a woman so young that their daughter Irene is today 84 years old—and the last child of any Civil War veteran still on the VA benefits rolls.”
That’s right: Irene’s father fought in the Civil War. Because of that, Irene still receives $73.13 a month.
Phillips puts together a compelling story about how the cost of a given war extends far beyond the war itself.
The rise of sadvertising (5/4/14, Fast Company): Here is another fascinating examination, this time from writer Rae Ann Fera of Fast Company, that gets a visual boost.
Fera delves into the growing desire of advertisers to make you cry with their work. She introduces the landscape as such:
Never in our collective memory has there been a time in which ads — whose purpose is to make people positively inclined toward a brand and, ultimately, to sell products — have left us feeling all the feels. Was it just us? Were we going soft? Did everyone in advertising watch the carousel scene in Mad Men and immediately seek to make blubbering Harry Cranes of us all? Or is there something bigger at play?
Click on the link for her explanation, and you will also find an article littered with near-full-screen videos of various tear-inducing ads. The whole thing works … and may require a tissue.
Weezer turns 20 (5/9/14, Stereogum): Combine the surefire click-bait of nostalgia with a reader base that largely grew up during the early 90’s, and you wind up with stories like this.
Was Weezer’s self-titled first album, known as the Blue Album, a seminal moment in pop culture? Apparently, because this week I saw a host of tributes and trips down memory lane from my favorite sites.
Chris DeVille of Stereogum offered my favorite — a loving tribute that doesn’t overplay the bombast in analyzing the album’s impact.
And what can I say … I loved this song:
Have a suggestion for “3 Great Stories of the Week”? E-mail me at matt@tellingthestoryblog.com.