Mapping the news

North Wales-based newspaper publisher NWN Media has launched a series of websites using mapping technology to highlight news and advertisers by location, reports Holdthefrontpage.

Editorial content from the publisher’s 12 newspapers, along with advertising from that area, will be automatically plotted onto Google Maps, a system the company believes to be the first of its kind in the UK.

Speaking to the website, NWN Media digital editor Christian Dunn said: "We had been experimenting with geotagging stories for a while – adding a latitude and longitude to an article and plotting it onto a digital map – and wanted to make more use of this when we re-launched our websites.

"Our readers can now easily see all the news that's happened in their neighbourhood or village.

"By linking our editorial system in with our advertising system we can also make sure we deliver tailored adverts with every article."

The new-look websites will also feature third party applications while Twitter feeds, Flickr image slideshows and YouTube videos will be embedded on the company's main website leaderlive.co.uk.

The newspapers include the Powys County Times, the Chester Standard and the Wrexham-based Leader.

EveryBlock Makes Code Available

Hyperlocal news and info site EveryBlock has released its source code online.

This means thousands of news websites around the world can now make use of the technology to power their own location-based news services.

It is this code which has enabled EveryBlock (launched in January 2008) to provide a hyperlocal news and info service for some 15 cities across the US.

Visitors can search for news by postcode or area and can get access to civic records as well as breaking news stories.

The company also has a number of partnership deals with news groups, including the New York Times.

Announcing the release of the code on their blog, the EveryBlock founders said: “We hope this extensive code base helps spark lots of great work.”

Find out more on the Editors Weblog.

[HT – Martin Stabe]

Telling The G20 Story With Social Media

News reporting via Twitter and AudioBoo became the norm last week as journalists used social media tools to tell the story of the G20 Summit in London.

The majority of the mainstream media got in on the action as social media software provided an ideal way for field-based reporters to provide real-time updates on events at the summit and on the streets of the City.

According to BBC tech correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones: “It does seem as though just about everyone involved in G20 - from the politicians to the journalists, from bloggers to demonstrators - has been snapping, filming recording everything in site and uploading it to the web to share with the world.”

Several online newspapers provided coverage using CoverItLive blogs, including Times Online and Sky News.

On the Sky live blog, correspondents sent text updates and links to photos uploaded to TwitPic.

Meanwhile, the Times Online’s live blog featured embedded photos and eye-witness posts from members of the public.



On Guardian.co.uk, award-winning blogger Dave Hill posted regular updates to his London blog about the action on the ground at the Bank of England.

And the BBC offered multimedia coverage through its Live Map, which linked to geotagged video, text and photographic content.



The BBC also pulled together links to all its G20 related content on a Live Text Page which featured links to news articles and blog posts from journalists as they were published.

An abundance of content from citizen journalists appeared throughout the day on content-sharing sites such as Flickr, and a group of students from London’s City University used their mobiles and social media tools to provide extensive coverage of the street protests (HT – cybersoc.com).

For more on this, journalism.co.uk and the BBC’s dot.life blog have round-ups of how social media was used by the mainstream and alternative media during last week’s events.

Evening Post Expands Hyperlocal Coverage

More neighbourhoods have been given their own news channels on the website of the Nottingham Evening Post.

The Northcliffe site introduced its first batch of hyperlocal news sites last summer and has now expanded the service to include more areas.

Among the districts in and around the city given their own news channels are Sherwood, Aspley and Eastwood.



According to HoldTheFrontPage.co.uk, the online Evening Post now has over 70 mini sites devoted to hyperlocal news coverage.

“This gives our visitors a way of filtering the news that is specific to their communities,” said Martin Done, deputy editor at the newspaper.

He added: “These sites will be places where people can meet online and discuss news relevant to their districts.”

Students To Create Hyperlocal Content

Content for the community news sections of a regional news website is to be provided by students as part of a collaboration project.

The Teesside Evening Gazette has teamed up with the Stockton Schools consortia to create a new diploma which will see pupils producing material for the hyperlocal areas of the website – Gazette Communities.

Journalism.co.uk reports that students taking the new Creative & Media Diploma will also need to work with social media platforms as well as the newspaper website.

“We’ve been very keen to target younger age groups and get them involved and interacting on our websites,” said Lindsay Bruce, project leader and senior desk editor at the Gazette.

She added: “We’ve already recruited a number of youth bloggers and this builds on that success.”

Further details can be found on Journalism.co.uk and Press Gazette.

NYT Joins EveryBlock On Micro Politics

New Yorkers can now check on the political activities of their local representatives via EveryBlock thanks to a new partnership deal.

The New York Times has joined with the micro-local news site to provide the service on its political news items page, reports Journalism.co.uk.

Visitors can view media coverage of their council, state, senate, and congress representatives and find out what they’ve been up to on behalf of the electorate.

Articles can be searched by borough, neighbourhood, zip code or by date of publication.



Founded by Adrian Holovaty, EveryBlock offers news feeds for each block in a number of cities across the US.

BBC Maps UK Teen Killings

The BBC has produced a map and searchable database of all known violent deaths of teenagers in the UK last year.

Head of its website Specials Team, Bella Hurrell, said the multimedia project aims to “tell the complete story of teen killings in 2008”.

It includes a database with details on each of the 72 deaths of young people aged from 10 to 19, which can be searched by the victim’s name, age and location of their death.



Locations of the killings are also shown on an interactive map and further information is displayed on a statistics page.



Writing on the Journalism Labs blog, Hurrell added that this is the first version of the database project and it will be developed and updated during the course of the year.

Archant Launches Mapped Directories

Regional publisher Archant recently rolled out its new geotagged directory service across its online titles.

Each Local Business Directory can be reached via the homepage and enables visitors to search for businesses by keywords and locations.

Results then appear in text on the left and on the right they are plotted across a map (using Google Maps API) which users can then click for further information.



The new service can be seen on Archant websites such as EDP24.com, Cambs24.com and IlfordRecorder.co.uk.

More information can also be found on journalism.co.uk.

Data Lessons For Newsrooms

Tips for creating successful data projects have been published by a former interactivity editor with latimes.com.

Eric Ulken worked on a number of innovative data-based initiatives with the LA Times, including The Homicide Map, and he is now sharing the benefit of his experiences in an article for Online Journalism Review.

He writes: “In this post, I’ll try to squeeze some wisdom out of the lessons we learned in the process of assembling the Times’ Data Desk, a cross-functional team of journalists responsible for collecting, analysing and presenting data online and in print.”

And here are six of the suggestions from his “10 pieces of advice for those of you building or looking to build a data team in your newsroom”:

1 – Seek Enthusiasts

Ulken recommends that newsrooms “find the believers” when assembling a team to head up data projects.

“You’ll likely discover enthusiasts and experts in places you didn’t expect … we found eager partners on the paper’s graphics staff … we also found people on the tech side with a good news sense who intuitively understood what we were trying to do.”

2 – Learn New Tricks

Since few but the biggest newsrooms have the required funds these days to bring in technical experts, Ulken suggests it’s time to work with what you’ve got and “train and nurture your enthusiasts”.

3 – Reusable Only

“The goal of all this is to be able to roll out projects rapidly, so you need templates, code snippets, Flash components, widgets, etc., that you can get at, customise and turn around quickly.”

4 – Look Outside For Tech Solutions

According to Ulken, IT departments have a tendency to think “big-picture product roadmaps with lots of moving pieces”.

This might not be quite in line with hopes for a quick and customisable template, and he points out the various database tools used by the LA Times – such as Django and Caspio.

5 – Work With Breaking News

“Often it’s the quick-turnaround stuff that has the biggest immediate effect.”

As an example, Ulken highlights his website’s database of fatalities from a train crash earlier this year where journalists were inputting information shortly after receiving it.

6 – Share The Wealth

Since data projects can take up a lot of time and resources, Ulken says it’s important to try to reverse-publish any valuable parts or share them with broadcast counterparts within the newsroom.


Ulken recently left the LA Times to travel the world looking at different ways that news providers are using web platforms.

Follow his progress and read his findings on his blog – ulken.com.

Hyperlocal News Not In BBC’s Sights

A spokesman for the BBC has said it’s not interested in providing online news beyond the local level.

Speaking at an Ofcom conference, David Holdsworth said it has never been the corporation’s intention to enter the world of hyperlocal news where stories are covered at postcode level.

Press Gazette reports that the BBC’s acting director of English regions reaffirmed that the broadcaster’s future plans are restricted to local TV, radio and web news.

“There are three markets – there’s a regional market, a local market and there’s hyperlocal,” said Holdsworth.

“I think that [last area is] a market for weekly newspapers and postcoded websites that newspapers are developing.”

He concluded: “We, like quite a few web providers, are keen to use maps more effectively going forward in the way we present our information. There is no other intention beyond that.”

The BBC recently saw its online video proposals rejected by the BBC Trust.

Mobile Lessons From Obama

Newspapers should take a leaf out of Barack Obama’s phonebook when it comes to mobile strategies, says a digital director.

Ted Mann from Gannett New Jersey points to the president-elect’s SMS and iPhone campaign applications and suggests that they may be “instructive to newsrooms”.

First up, Mann discusses Obama’s geotargeted text alert service which sent announcements to registered users about events and news in their area.

Writing on the Courier Post’s Mojo Dojo blog, Mann says newspapers could deploy a similar tool to send breaking news alerts to journalists in the field.

“If every reporter signed up for a newsroom alert on their cell phones, an editor could quickly issue a kind of all-hands-on-deck text to tell everyone about a three-alarm fire in Camden, or a bridge collapse in Philly, or whatever.”

Next up, Obama’s iPhone service with its Call Friends option which scanned the user’s phonebook, and a Get Involved feature listing local meetings.

Mann asks: “How great would it also be if newsrooms could use mobile apps in much the same way - incorporating a phone book of all newsroom personnel (so you can always get Joe the Reporter on his cell phone, even if you don’t have the number)?”

He concludes: “If the overall effort to coordinate newsrooms via text and mobile were any bit as effective as the Obama campaign has been, maybe the newspaper business could find a way to thrive again after all.”

Visit Mojo Dojo for the full story.

[HT - Fitz and Jen.]

US Election Picks

Now that the dust has settled on the US election, here’s a guide to some of the online coverage that caught the eye of commentators, bloggers and journalists.

The Look

If you want to see how the digital media reported the votes as they came in, student Gary Ritzenthaler spent the night taking screen grabs of websites from around the world.

Blogger and academic Mindy McAdams writes that the PhD student from the University of Florida has made these images public on Iterasi, an online bookmarking service for pages as well as links.

And guardian.co.uk has a collection of images showing how the global online media reported Barack Obama’s victory.

Blogs

An overview of some of the most popular US election blogs was provided earlier this month by TimesOnline.

Although the article is about websites rather than purely about blogs, most of its 25 picks either are blogs or have their blogging sections recommended.

The effectiveness of the pro-McCain and pro-Obama bloggers is discussed in this article by Judith Townend on Journalism.co.uk.

Meanwhile, the BBC adopted a three-pronged blogging strategy with Gavin Hewitt providing updates from the Obama camp in Chicago and Matt Price blogging from the McCain campaign headquarters in Arizona.

North America editor Justin Webb completed the triumvirate by offering an overview of the results via his regular blog.

Multimedia

The effectiveness and accuracy of some of the media’s fancy maps have been discussed on The Information Aesthetics blog, and the Australian resource also has lots of links to some of the most innovative ones.

And alternatives to the usual raft of red/blue maps dotting the online media landscape have been offered up by Mark Newman at the University of Michigan (HT - Martin Stabe.)

While the Washington Post combined mapping with its Twitter, blog and video reports through the multimedia fest called TimeSpace: Election.

Users could view news from chosen locations and use the timeline to filter reports by date.



On the video and slideshows front, plenty of journalists in the US hit the campaign trail and polling booths to produce some great little packages.

In her round-up for Poynter Online, Regina McCombs points to an audio-visual piece from the Nashua Telegraph where voters were asked to sum up why they voted in one word.

McCombs also flags up a multimedia feature from the Star Tribune asking local politicians and activists what the Obama victory means to them.

While the New York Times contributed with its documentary – Choosing the President – which combines audio, video and some very flashy graphics to produce an effective overview of the election from party nominations through to November 5th.

And in the UK, election news videos produced by satirical outfit The Onion News Network were featured on Telegraph.co.uk after the newspaper struck a deal with myvideorights.com.

Social Media

How Obama harnessed the power of social networking websites like Facebook is discussed in this New York Times article (HT – Nigel Barlow).

And among the news outlets taking advantage of image-sharing websites was Sky News, which posted photos of its election coverage activities to its Flickr stream (HT Journalism.co.uk).

User-Generated Content

On a grand scale there was the YouTube-PBS partnership project – Video Your Vote, which encouraged the public to record their voting experiences.

While among the small but innovative UGC projects was the Word Train feature from the New York Times which asked users to submit one word to describe their current state of mind on election day.

The most common words were then displayed across the webpage and visitors could also choose to view words from a particular time period or from Obama or McCain supporters only.

Further Reading


There are lots of other round-up posts around the blogosphere, such as one on the Online Journalism Blog from Paul Bradshaw and this from Laura Oliver on Journalism.co.uk.

[Pictures from top - Jonathon Colman on Flickr and Shasti O'Leary on Flickr.]

Northern Ireland Crimes Mapped

The Belfast Telegraph has unveiled an interactive map of crime statistics from Northern Ireland.

Visitors can opt to view crime data by ward for each year from 2001 to the present and search for figures by offence, such as criminal damage, burglary and theft.



According to mad.co.uk, the sponsored map forms part of the Telegraph’s strategy to improve its site’s stickiness.

“We’re confident of the changes to the site and our position as a local news and information source,” said Sam McIlveen, digital publisher at Independent News and Media.

[Hat Tip – Martin Stabe.]

ITN Unveils Maps Mashup

Visitors to the ITN website can now access international news via a Google Map application.

British users are presented with a UK map and a search facility where they can manually request to view articles from global locations.

Results when opened provide a picture and introduction to the geotagged story and a link to view it in full.



And Firefox users automatically receive news from their area on visiting the page as the Google Gears Geolocation API “reads” their location.

Further information on this and other mapping applications can be found on the Google Maps Mania blog.

[Hat tip to Martin Stabe.]

BBC Maps Medal Parade With GPS

A real-time map boosted with geotagged multimedia content formed part of the BBC’s coverage of last week’s “parade of heroes”.

Visitors to bbc.co.uk followed the progress of the Olympians and Paralympians via the map’s red line, which slowly crawled its way through the streets of London.

Along the route, journalists on the ground added geotagged text updates using a combination of GPS-enabled mobile phones, Twitter and Twibble to provide users with a flavour of the atmosphere among the crowds.

They also submitted geocoded photos, using Flickr and Shozu, of some of the now familiar faces of Team GB.

While members of the public were encouraged to upload their photos of the parade to the specially created Flickr group.



Sports journalist Ollie Williams said of all the technology used for the coverage: “It’s clever stuff, and it allows us to tell the story of events in a complex, live, graphic environment for the first time.”

He added: “In the future, mobile technology like this could help us cover big sporting events (for example, Wimbledon or the Open golf) in new ways.”

Further details on the map, which uses Microsoft Virtual Earth technology, can be found on the BBC Olympics blog and the Mapperz blog.

Hyperlocal Site Launching In UK

An American website featuring hyperlocal news is launching a beta version for the UK.

Outside.in enables users to aggregate information from news websites and blogs concerning places of relevance to them – from cities and towns to tiny neighbourhoods.

Spokesperson Nina Grigoriev confirmed to Journalism.co.uk that a UK version is on its way and revealed that the organisation is considering setting up an office here too.

And she said that one of the main reasons for this new launch was “the failure of the newspaper industry to capitalise on featuring hyperlocal content” in the UK.

Grigoriev added that “the demand for personalised information on the web” was another contributing factor to the launch of the new site.



Outside.in also offers embeddable story maps enabling bloggers and publishers to geotag their content - see this blog on architecture for an example of the Story Maps application.

SPOTLIGHT – GEOTAGGING

Following on from last fortnight’s look at the use of maps in online journalism, today’s SPOTLIGHT post examines the rise of geotagging.

We’ll be looking at current applications of geotagging technologies by journalists in the US and the UK and will supply the usual list of resources for further information and practical guidance.

This post will also consider location-based media and the potential future uses of geographic information systems (GIS) in online journalism and will cast its eye around its present popularity in the social media world.


What On Earth Is Geotagging?

As usual, Poynter Online provides a useful working definition of geotagging or geocoding as it is also known:

“Geocoding is the process of assigning geographic coordinates (the latitude and longitude of a location) to street addresses and other geographic features so that they can be displayed in online maps.

“This enables websites to show the location of news events or display data such as crimes and real estate transactions.”

Wikipedia’s definition expands on this and states that such geographic metadata can also come in the shape of place names and altitude as well as coordinates.

This metadata can be tagged manually (see the Wikipedia entry for more technical details on this) or it can be auto-tagged by use of a mobile phone or other device which has integrated Global Positioning System (GPS) capabilities.

Meanwhile, location-based media require the end user to have a GPS-enabled device which means content and data can be sent and received with geographical positions automatically included as metadata.

What Does It Mean For Journalism?

Geotagging technologies present exciting new opportunities for journalism as well as for a whole host of other information and communications industries.

This slideshow from venture capitalist firm Venrock provides a useful introduction to some of these opportunities.

| View | Upload your own

Emerging Opportunities on the GeoWeb by Dev Khare, Venrock.

So far, all this has led to two main innovations of interest to online journalists:

1:- The creation of map-based interfaces and databases where users can search for information (articles, reviews, photos, films etc) by location.

2:- The creation of GPS-based interfaces where access to content is triggered by physical location.

We now turn to see how news websites are getting to grips with these new developments.

1 - MAPS & DATABASES

International & National Maps

A great example of a simple but effective use of geotagging can be seen on this national news map for the USA created by Michael Young.



The stories come from national news feeds from the Associated Press while the mapping software comes from Google and the geocoding API is from Yahoo!

Articles are plotted on the map as the city or state mentioned in each story is coded to a point of latitude and longitude.

On a grander scale is the MetaCarta GeoSearch News service which was launched in April this year and maps international news stories.

The site uses a Google map interface alongside articles from the Associated Press and Reuters.

[MetaCarta World News Map Goes Live - April 2008]

And at the very forefront of these developments is the latest partnership from Google Earth and the New York Times.

The cutting-edge project uses the latest version of the Google Earth 3D browser as a platform to display geocoded NYT articles which are updated in real time.



USA - Local Landscapes - Mainstream Media

Regional publishers in the mainstream media are also getting in on the geotagging act and one of the most innovative examples is the CinciNavigator search tool from the Cincinnati Enquirer.

The Microsoft Virtual Earth map interface displays geotagged data on a range of themes – from police callouts to crimes and latest petrol prices.



Similarly, the Salt Lake Tribune’s TribTowns map (using a Yahoo! API) has six different views, one for each of its themes such as Dining, Things To Do and Sports.

USA - Local Landscapes - Independent Media

Embracing the hyperlocal potential of geotagging is the news, views and reviews website Outside.in.

Covering thousands of cities and neighbourhoods across the US, the site enables users to search its databases for the latest news and information about their street, village, town or postcode area.

Outside.in allows local bloggers to geotag their blogs so they can then be included among its content search results.

Local issues are also the central focus of EveryBlock, which offers crime news by neighbourhood in five US cities.

Launched as ChicagoCrime.org, EveryBlock has evolved to provide geocoded content on news stories from New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Charlotte.

It has also expanded its remit from covering crime stories to incorporating many acts of officialdom from restaurant inspections to business reviews and building permits.

Users can search its databases for news by type and by location - from street to council districts and postcode areas.


UK - Local Landscapes - Mainstream Media

This year has seen several publishing groups introduce geotagging metadata into their online systems.

Regional publisher Northcliffe Media recently relaunched its “next generation” of websites for its local news titles featuring search options made possible via geotagging actions.

[Northcliffe Ushers In Geocoding Era – 23 June 2008]

Trinity Mirror’s revamped websites are also starting to experiment with the possibilities of geotagging services.

For example, the Teesside Gazette includes a Gazette Communities channel where users can search for hyperlocal content by postcode.

Meanwhile, the Archant publishing group has been labelled by blogger Paul Bradshaw as the one to watch when it comes to geotagging innovations in 2008.

Archant web editor James Goffin writes on Bradshaw’s Online Journalism Blog about his company’s plans for the introduction of geotagging and revealed that they are experimenting with interactive maps.

The initiative was hit by a delay late last year but it is expected that the geocoding plans will go live before the end of this year.

Geotagging and location-based services are also likely to form one of the key foundations of the BBC’s proposed hyperlocal video news network.

This post from Andrew Williams provides an outline of the shape of things to come if the corporation’s plans to enter the online hyperlocal news market are approved.


GPS-BASED INTERFACES

Journalism

The use of GPS services to trigger the display of data on mobiles is very much in the experimental stage in the journalism industry.

These GPS interfaces use satellite technology to work on the same principle as audio tour devices used in museums - providing information to the end user based on their physical location.

However, unlike tour guide tools, these digital platforms also allow two-way communications using GIS.

A Poynter Online blog post recently outlined the strengths and weakness of so-called “locative journalism” as the writer participated in a GPS storytelling experiment in Chicago.

While last year the BBC undertook a citizen reporting trial project using GPS technologies to both gather and distribute multimedia stories.

Social Media

While journalists may be just starting out on their locative storytelling journey, social media and gaming websites are streaking ahead.

Jot You is a location-based text messaging service through which users can send to their friends messages which are received when they arrive at a specified geographical location.

Social networking site Loopt claims to turn a mobile phone into a social compass as it sends users alerts when their friends are in nearby locations and helps members share recommendations on places and events.

In a similar way, content-sharing website JuiceCaster also enables friends to “bump into” each other thanks to its location-based functionalities.

While Yahoo!’s Fire Eagle website deploys GPS services so users can post their location to their profiles on blog sites, as well as multimedia-sharing and social networking websites.

It’s currently invitation-only but here’s a review of its offerings from BBC technology blogger Rory Cellan-Jones.

Finally, Hewlett-Packard’s Mediascapes project allows mobile users to engage in “location-based experiences, games and tours”.

And members are also encouraged to use their GPS-enabled mobiles to create their own locative media experiences.


RESOURCES

There are several groups at the forefront of locative media experimentation, here’s a selection.

Northwestern University’s LoJo project is a multimedia initiative headed by graduate students and its site is an excellent resource with information on all aspects of locative journalism.

It also has a useful list of 12 recommendations for media organisations regarding geotagging and location-based technologies.

More general uses for GIS have also been explored by a team of scholars at the University of Southern California through its Networked Publics group and its resulting report on Places.

The Center for Locative Media is another useful resource experimenting in a variety of applications of GPS and geotagging services.

And a couple of blogs provide interesting updates on a number of aspects of the geoweb – Google Earth’s LatLong blog and this locative media blog.

Practical Guides

There are plenty of places online to find out more about the practicalities of applying geotagging technology, for instance the EveryBlock blog has guidance on creating maps.

While this blog post from MediaShift’s Idea Lab has a video and text guide about using geocoding services with Google Maps.

Finally, the GPS Visualiser site offers free geocoding software services.


That’s it for this fortnight’s SPOTLIGHT post. As always, do get in touch if you have any examples that you’d like to share of innovation in today’s subject.

SPOTLIGHT - MAPS

Hello and welcome to this fortnight’s SPOTLIGHT post on the use of maps by the news media.

We’ll start our journey by going back to see when using maps as online reporting tools really took off.

Then we’ll travel through the current media landscape to take a look at some of the many innovative ways that news sites are using maps to enhance their online coverage.

Along the way we’ll also see examples of maps which rely on user participation, before completing our travels with a guide to mapping resources for journalists.


INTRODUCTION

Exactly eight years ago yesterday, Dylan Loeb McClain wrote in the New York Times:

“If The Associated Press succeeds with its newest project, people who read newspapers, watch television news broadcasts or scan Web media sites will soon see maps, maps and more maps.

“And not just ordinary, run-of-the-mill maps - those pedestrian items with a couple of roads and the names of some towns - but maps that show demographic data, or earthquake fault lines and the number and location of quakes along each fault or even the location of every tree and bush in a neighborhood.

“The new product, called MapShop, is a Web-based program designed to allow journalists to create in minutes sophisticated, information-rich maps that once might have taken hours or even days.”

McClain may not have backed the right horse in the software stakes but his prescient article does provide a pretty accurate picture of today’s multimedia mapping landscape.

Newsrooms are now able to create detailed maps integrating different kinds of data in a relatively quick and easy way which must have been almost unthinkable back in the early days of news websites.

The Advent of Google Maps

But it wasn’t MapShop that unleashed this mapping frenzy, rather it was the launch of Google Maps in 2005 which saw cybercartography become one of the most popular and exciting trends in online journalism.

Unlike the paid-for MapShop (now known as Map Studio), the Google Maps API is a free tool which enables users to create their own maps which can be embedded on their own sites.

Since then, growing numbers of mapping software providers offer their applications for free (listed at the end), but the Google Maps API is the overwhelming tool of choice for the majority of news sites.

Now let’s take a look at how news organisations in the UK and the US have created their own maps to add a fresh dimension to their stories.

The Three Degrees

There are three main ways that maps are currently used by news providers or aggregators, they can be categorised as follows:

1 Interactive Maps

The map and all its data is submitted and maintained by journalists/ technical staff. Users can usually interact by choosing which areas to view and digging down to find more content.

Examples:- Maps of restaurant reviews, traffic hotspots and special projects such as crime maps.

2 Collaborative Maps

Users can submit their own data to the map to supplement the information provided by the editorial team.

Examples:- Pothole and fuel price maps.

3 News Maps

These maps enable users to select news in areas of interest to them by browsing a map and are created using geotagging or geocoding systems – these will be discussed in next fortnight’s post.

Interactive Maps – UK

Maps can be used as part of a campaign issue and this is how the Manchester Evening News started the new year with its interactive multimedia map showing shooting deaths in Greater Manchester over the last eight years.

[Manchester Gun Murders Mapped – 10.01.08]

While Sky News used an interactive map to highlight the various environmental projects taking place throughout the UK, from individual actions to large-scale green schemes.

Maps can be used as an information resource and are particularly popular in relation to fuel price issues.

For example, the Lancashire Evening Post recently used a Google map satellite image to show where to buy the cheapest petrol in Preston.

Maps are also a popular tool for election coverage and here’s an example from the Liverpool Echo’s online reporting of the recent council elections.

And maps can be an effective way to communicate information from a breaking news story, demonstrated by the Plymouth Herald which used a Google map with an article about unsafe drinking water.

The Herald used the map to inform people of the areas potentially affected by the incident.

Journalists are also deploying mapping applications in order to provide a multimedia dimension to major news stories.

For example, the Ipswich Evening Star used several interactive maps in its coverage of a multiple murder trial.

[Multimedia Journalism Draws Traffic – 18.03.08]

Interactive Maps – US

Looking across the pond, maps are being used in similar ways but there are also several areas where maps really seem to have taken off in a manner not seen in the UK.

Interactive maps using real-time data are cropping up on a significant number of sites and a great example is the 911 Calls graphic from the Indianapolis Star.

The map, which received a notable entry mention at last year’s Knight-Batten Awards, enables users to see the most recent 30 emergency callouts for police and fire services.

While among the Toronto Star’s gallery of interactive maps is a traffic information resource which provides links to real-time pictures from the city’s traffic cameras.

In the US, journalists are also using maps to provide graphics on non-news stories and feature articles.

For example, the Las Vegas Sun illustrated its History of Fabulous Las Vegas with an interactive map charting the development of casinos along the strip.



While the Bakersfield Californian has mapped the favourite restaurant reviews of its resident food critic.

Collaborative Maps – UK

Collaborative maps are certainly a less common sight on UK websites at present but seem to be growing in popularity.

They encourage the active participation of users to help submit information and build a collaborative data resource.

Recent examples include an online map from BBC Radio 4’s iPM programme which asked visitors their experience of the credit crunch in order to create “a mood map”.

[Users Help Beeb Map Credit Crunch – 13.05.08]

Another example of an innovative collaborative map can be seen at the Sunderland Echo where expats from the north-east can add their locations and details about themselves on a map of the world.



Collaborative Maps – US

The Bakersfield Californian boasts a number of interesting collaborative maps, including the potholes graphic where users have helped map potholes so they can be brought to the attention of local services.

In addition, the website has a Quirks map where registered members can post details about their favourite quirky features and local landmarks in the area.

The Bowling Green Daily News is using collaborative mapping to serve the community through its Yard Sales map where users submit information of garage and yard sales.

Finally, the Times Herald-Record used collaborative mapping tools to create its Gas Watch graphic showing petrol prices in the region.

Resources

There’s no shortage of online resources about mapping so here’s a just a few links to some useful sites.

Directions magazine has regular podcasts about geospatial technology and many include discussions on the use of maps by news media.

While the Google Maps Mania blog offers an abundance of hints and tips through its Special Features posts such as 100 Things to do with Google Maps Mashups and a four-part series on how the news media is using maps.

Other useful posts about Google maps include this entry from 10,000 Words on how to use pictures with Google maps and this Google maps tutorial post from Andy Dickinson.

There are lots of other mapping software providers and here’s links to a few of them:

Stamen Design

Atlas

Quik Maps

Map Builder

MappedUp – This displays stories from news source RSS feeds and puts them onto a world map

Frappr - Enables users to map visitors to their websites

Platial - Social mapping provider

So that’s it for this fortnight’s SPOTLIGHT post, next time we’ll be looking at the accompanying subject of geotagging.

Boston.com Employs Geotagging Partner

The website of the Boston Globe has enlisted a third party to geotag all its content.

MetaCarta will geocode all articles uploaded to Boston.com and will also handle the geotagging of information taken from other websites for the Globe’s local search service.

This means visitors to the Globe’s site will be able to search for stories and information within their own hyperlocal area.

These search services are intended to improve user frequency and the number of page views.

According to the vice president of product at Boston.com, the new tagging service will enable readers to “zero in on locations that matter to them”.

Bob Kempf added: “We are committed to positioning content and offering functionality in ways that meet the needs of our audience and advertisers.

“We see that opportunity as increasingly local.”

More information on the deal can be found in the press release.

Northcliffe Ushers In Geocoding Era

Northcliffe Media’s journalists are getting to grips with geocoding technology as several revamped sites now boast local search functions.

Last week saw Northcliffe launch a further ten redesigned websites with the new software which enables visitors to search for news by postcode.

The publisher’s content strategy director told Press Gazette that getting used to the new coding technology is proving an interesting challenge for reporters and editors.

Robert Hardie stated: “On the one hand it’s opening up a major opportunity for us, but it also means we’re going have to learn new skills and make value judgements about how we tag stories with postcodes.”

The relaunched websites are part of Northcliffe’s “next generation” of news sites, which also aims to place greater emphasis on multimedia storytelling and user-generated content.

Among the ten websites unveiled last week are thisisderbyshire.co.uk and thisistotalessex.co.uk.



Further information on the ongoing relaunch can be found at holdthefrontpage.co.uk and Journalism.co.uk.