Snowfall-like features are no excuse for unclear storytelling

I meant to link this last week, but it got lost in the manifold tabs lurking in my browser… The Guardian did a really nice multimedia feature on what the NSA/Snowdon business actually mean to us as people.

What I like about this multimedia feature is that it keeps a coherent narrative and guides you through the reading experience, unlike so many of its other post-Snowfall kin. Clever use of integrated multimedia shouldn’t preclude – or obscure – good storytelling. The running narrative still needs to be clear, and I think they managed it pretty well here.

(As an aside: it’s astonishing that it’s taken us this long to start creating genuine multimedia – stories that use multiple forms of media well – rather than just sticking up a crappy YouTube video, and calling it job done…)