links for 2009-09-15

I find much evidence that newspaper leaders remain delusional about how charging for online content (some or all) is going to become such a big revenue stream that it will save them. Below is the slide that just screamed out at me the main problem: Newspaper executives are out of touch with the online audience to a huge degree.

It's a serious problem and, I think, it's the new elephant in the newsroom. Do we really know how far a rival's newsroom has embraced multimedia? Every regional paper in the UK talks Good Digital but the reality is somewhat detached from that, I'd be willing to bet.

Take five minutes to experience this innovative interface, Waterlife, and appreciate the possibilities with Flash. For a documentary about the water resource of the Great Lakes, I can’t imagine how much of their budget was spent on the Web site. Regardless, it helped get my creative juices flowing!

My only qualm is that this site takes a serious investment of time in order to do it justice. I wonder what the difference in user experience would be between watching a cleverly-crafted 30 second promo, and interacting with this interface for 30 seconds. Ultimately, this site can’t be experienced in 30 seconds, and I wonder if all users are willing to work for it.

For whatever you find interesting, fascinating, or mind-blowing on Flickr, galleries are a way to curate up to 18 public photos or videos of your fellow members into one place around a theme, an idea or just because.