A little too close for comfort...and I want to be a lawyer?

Last week in JOU4201 we sat in with another class to hear Christine Montgomery speak about her job with the Web department at the St. Petersburg Times. I actually kept thinking that it was for JOU4341 because the lecture was entirely applicable to the class. At first she showed us a few fun and creative multimedia projects. They weren't amazing, but they did demonstrate the variety of things you can do on the Web. Some projects even crossed the line into silly.

She ended by introducing us to a Web special report called Doubt. It is a detailed view into the murder trial of Leo Schofield. Viewers can hear Schofield tell his story, trace his whereabouts on a map and come to their own conclusion about the murder. The report probably contains more information than a juror, who was present at the trial, could tell. I noted some interesting things about this report.

First, it's important to know that I read and listened to the whole report. I lie here sick with a fever, but the report grabbed me and never tested my attention span. Looking back, I realize how much text I must have read. All of that information in a newspaper would be overwhelming, even if supplemented with interesting photos.

Also, the story was more understandable because of the graphics. I probably wouldn't have paid attention to his alibi if I couldn't visualize the route he took. Even if I did pay attention, it wouldn't have meant anything to me.

The fact that viewers could watch Schofield tell his story is also important because we are able to pick up on facial expression and gestures. Those are things that journalists claim are most important to notice while interviewing a person but the average viewer doesn't get many chances to see them.

During the Seeds of Doubt section of the report, viewers are given the opportunity to hear a phone conversation with another suspect and his grandmother. However, the audio clip doesn't play automatically because it contains explicit language. Everything on print and TV is censored, but the Web allows us to decide for ourselves. Gory pictures that would have newspaper editors arguing can go online with a warning attached.

Finally, I must end this by saying that after being engrossed in such a mystery and feeling so close to the characters in this case, I am left feeling slightly disturbed. :-\