This presentation discusses the story forms that work for mobile news readers. Matt Frehner, senior editor for mobile and interactive news at The Globe and Mail, prepared it for Halifax NewsTrain on May 6-7, 2016. It is accompanied by his handout, "Digital Mobile Storytelling." NewsTrain is a training initiative of Associated Press Media Editors (APME). More info: http://bit.ly/NewsTrain

1. How to win at
digital storytelling
@mattfrehner

2. How to win at
digital mobile
storytelling
@mattfrehner

3. What problems are we
trying to solve?
• We want people to read our work.
• Our readers are everywhere now.
Their habits are diverse and changing
rapidly.
• How do we attract a reader, gain their
attention and cut through the noise?

4. How you tell the story
will dictate whether it
gets clicked,
read and shared.

5. Good storytelling
is still what matters most
But that doesn’t mean
we can keep telling
stories the same way.
We have to be open
to new approaches.

6. We need a new toolkit
Technology allows us to do so much more than
just an article with an image and some links.

8. 51 per cent of the time
Canadians spend online
is via mobile devices

9. 81 per cent of cellphones
in Canada are smartphones

10. Among Canadian
newspaper readers, 3 in 10
no longer check the news
on their computers

11. Going mobile means:
• Audience: match the habits of mobile
• Technology: needs to load quickly
• Design: be readable and intuitive
• Story structure: compose for a phone

12. Ask:
When should we publish
this story to give it the
maximum chance of
succeeding on mobile?

13. How to assign
for mobile
• Mobile is urgent,
always at hand.
• How should we
cover:
- The first second?
- The first minute?
- The first hour?

14. Mobile is social
Most readers will never see your home page.

15. Learn to love technology
• We need to understand mobile technology.
• The tools you use to tell a story can help or hurt.
• Prioritizing mobile means prioritizing the
user experience.

16. “If you design for mobile
first, you can create
agreement on what matters
up front.”
-- Mobile First by Luke Wroblewski

17. “I told all of our
product teams,
when they come in
for reviews: ‘Come
in with mobile. If
you come in and try
to show me a
desktop product, I’m
going to kick you
out.’ ”

18. Structuring stories
for mobile

19. Get to the point.
Brevity is key.
Design for the scroll.
Be linear, be logical.
Write for the scanner.
Grab the reader as they drift.

20. The case against
‘interactive’ journalism
• Simplicity should be the default.
• Your story should work everywhere.
• Does it help the reader understand the
story?

21. Let’s look at some
examples

22. Digest
bit.ly/insidebudget

23. Explainers
bit.ly/toxicflint

24. Explainers
bit.ly/a-bombs

25. Chart package
bit.ly/budgetcheatsheet

26. What you missed
bit.ly/ghomeshiverdict bit.ly/ottawaafter

27. Live (beyond the live blog)

28. Live (beyond the live blog)

29. Scrolling data story
bit.ly/homerunjays

30. Slide-based graphics
bit.ly/failurefactories

31. News games
bit.ly/nhsquizbit.ly/stoxgame bit.ly/problemsolvingpuzzle

32. The social roundup

33. Social graphics

34. Social graphics

35. Social video
bit.ly/meetbb8

36. Sometimes,
all you need
is one photo
to reach
9 million
people

37. But long reads can
work, too.
tgam.ca/kimschoice tgam.ca/asbestos tgam.ca/baddreamtgam.ca/savingcyla tgam.ca/confined

38. So you have the
menu.
How do you
choose?

39. Think
visual
• If I could use
only
a few words
to tell this
story, how
would I do it?
• What is my
goal?

40. Always ask:
Does it make the
story better?

41. Always ask:
Would you share it?

42. You will fail.
That’s okay.
Try again.

43. How do we know
if we are winning?
• It’s not (just) about clicks.
• Amplification: Is it being shared?
• Engagement: How much time are they
spending?
• Loyalty: Does it make them want to come
back?

44. What is success for you?

45. Let’s try it out
Exercise:
• How would you restructure this for mobile?
• What would make it more compelling?
• What other media are worth including?
• Let’s mock it up on paper.

46. Let’s try it out
Exercise:
• What’s a story you have coming up?
• Let’s brainstorm how you might cover it differently.

47. Let’s chat.