About the Site

Rubbed Out is an experiment in digital history that draws on public and private archival sources to present in-depth, investigative material. It’s about a violent chapter in American journalism, and how to engage an audience by providing numerous entry points to a narrative. Investigative reporter James Eli Shiffer independently researched the project and collaborated with Ewen Media to present his findings on the Web.

Rubbed Out includes three short stories on Arthur Kasherman’s death, including his Hell-Raising Tradition, his Last Chow Mein and the Aftermath. The project’s short documentary is available on YouTube and Vimeo. There’s also an interactive map of Minneapolis at the time of Kasherman’s death.

McKenna Ewen worked with James Shiffer to build the independent investigation into an online multimedia project. Ewen used historical images from the Hennepin County Library and Star Tribune, in addition to historical footage from the Prelinger Archives, to produce the Rubbed Out documentary. He built the interactive map using UMapper, a web-based map application with the Yahoo maps framework. The site was powered by WordPress and designed by Graph Paper Press. If you have any further questions, you may contact McKenna Ewen at mewen@ewenmedia.com.

Help share Arthur Kasherman’s story

If you enjoyed this project, please take a moment to share and recommend it to others. You may also use the following promotional text and images if preferred. Ewen Media launched this project independently and needs your help to make it a success. We appreciate your support.

Promotional text:
Minneapolis, MN – In 1945, newspaper publisher Arthur Kasherman was gunned down on a snowy street. Was he a crusader for justice, or a low-life who angered the underworld once too many? Watch the video, read the stories and maybe you’ll solve a 65-year-old murder mystery.

Download the promotional images:
http://ewenmedia.com/rubbedout/rubbedout590x350.jpg
http://ewenmedia.com/rubbedout/rubbedout320x190.jpg
http://ewenmedia.com/rubbedout/rubbedout170x100.jpg

Here’s a link to the Almanac segment where I previewed the Kasherman project. I was also joined by professor Jane Kirtley and MPR’s Bob Collins to discuss the some of the latest media controversies of the week.

Interested in partnering with Ewen Media?

Ewen Media is a multimedia production company that uses interactive multimedia to share meaningful stories. The organization’s mission is to use purpose-driven journalism to explore the world in its current state and the world that it could become. McKenna Ewen would like to collaborate with local news organizations and nonprofits to help create similar projects. If you are interested, you may reach him by phone at 952-212-3013 or by email at mewen@ewenmedia.com. He is also available on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Thank you very much for your interest in this project and please let us know what you think. Thanks!

Here’s a collection of the top projects mentioned during the chat. #wjchat is a weekly Twitter conversation for web journalists. We talk about all things content, technology, ethics and business of journalism on the web. The next chat will be on Wednesday, March 3 at 7:00 PM CT. In the meantime, you can follow my multimedia Twitter list for additional links from some of the industry’s top multimedia professionals.

Journey to the End of Coal

Journey to the End of Coal is a Web documentary by Samuel Bollendorff and Abel Ségrétin. The project tells the story of millions of Chinese coal miners who are risking their lives to satisfy their country’s appetite for economic growth.

Project recommended by @multimedialinks.

Iraqi Kurdistan

Iraqi Kurdistan is an expansive look into the daily lives of the Kurdish people of northern Iraq. These images provide an alternative perspective on a changing culture, one different from the destruction and discord that dominates so much media coverage of the region.

Documented by Ed Kashi and produced by MediaStorm, the photographs of Iraqi Kurdistan are presented in flipbook-style animation; gradual changes between still images simulate motion. The thousands of images that comprise this project are as striking as they are bountiful.

Project recommended by @madshrew.

Haiti 360

Haiti 360 is an interactive video showing the destruction in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, following the earthquake. The video ran on CNN.com and was produced by Immersive Media, a company specializing in 360 video. Side note, the video camera uses 11 lenses and looks like a little disco ball. More information on panoramic photos, video and how to make them is available from 10,000 Words.

Project recommended by @motownmedia.

Mapping LA

Mapping L.A. is resource from the Los Angeles Times to map boundaries, demographics, schools and news within the city. The site was built entirely with free and open-source software, including Django, jQuery, OpenLayers and PostgreSQL.

Project recommended by @michelleminkoff.

Operation Pedro Pan

A database designed to connect with family, friends and fellow Pedro Pan children around the world. The Miami Herald’s goal was to unite people and create a website to preserve the memories of those who made the journey on those flights

Project recommended by @amysimons.

Frozen Land, Forgotten People

In 1966, Bureau of Indian Affairs Commissioner Robert L. Bennett outlawed development on 1.6 million acres of desert in northeastern Arizona that was claimed by both the Navajo nation and the Hopi tribe. When the freeze ended, many residents didn’t know where to begin. Produced by the @multimedialinks.

Luge Crash at the Olympics

Nodar Kumaritashvili, a luge athlete, was killed during a training run on the Olympic track, which was the fastest track in the world. The frame by frame graphic shows the athlete’s last run and what went wrong on the final turn.

Please note: the final frame of the project shows the moment of the Georgia athlete’s death. For an interesting article on whether the New York Times should have included the image, check out this post by Poynter’s Al Tompkins.

Fifty People One Question

Fifty People One Question is an ongoing social experiment and film series exploring human connections through people and place. The project began in New Orleans in 2008 and has since traveled across the globe, touching millions of viewers. Along the way, the films have captured a small slice of humanity; to discover dreams, losses, reflections, stories and secrets, some shared and some completely unrepeatable.

Project recommended by @3ba.

The Destruction in Port-au-Prince

View satellite photos from GeoEye that show Port-au-Prince before and after the Jan. 12 earthquake. The interactive graphic does an excellent job showing the magnitude of the earthquake’s damage. Produced by The New York Times.

Project recommended by @ethanklapper.

My Picks

Streetlight

Ethiopia is a country rich in culture, history, culinary art and street children. In the capital Addis Ababa more than 100,000 people live on the street – most of them children and youth. Streetlight is a web feature that shows that work carried out by Hope For Children and it has be produced for the organization to create awareness for fundraising purposes.

Streetlight was a commissioned project produced by the Bombay Flying Club for the NGO Hope for Children.

Terremoto en Haití

Elmundo put together an impressive multimedia presentation following the Haiti earthquake. I originally found the project on Innovative Interactivity and was very, very impressed. Admittedly, I couldn’t understand most of the project (my spanish skills are a little rusty), but there were a lot of interesting interactive elements and a nice mix between factual context and emotional storytelling.

Death Perceptions

For most of us, death is occasional, peripheral. But for some, death is part of the job. And for a few, it is the job. This series examines death through the eyes of professionals who face it every day.

Project produced by The Columbus Dispatch.

Times of Crisis

Times of Crisis uses in-depth multimedia to chart the year of global upheaval following the collapse of Lehman Brothers. See how lives have changed as a divergent world embarks on a new era of historic uncertainty.

Reuters and MediaStorm produced this project collaboratively.

Still looking for more inspiration? Try some of these posts

Innovative Interactivity: Top 50 Multimedia Sites of 2009
MediaStorm: Projects Worth Watching
Multimedia Shooter: 9 Multimedia Projects You Must Experience

1) Make the project matter

The best way to learn a new skill is to work on a project that you truly care about. For me, I wanted to produce this site because it was something I enjoyed doing and I thought it could do some good. As a result, I picked up some new skills in the process. If you can find a project that you’re personally invested in, it becomes more rewarding to try new things and spend the time to make it great.

2) Software isn’t scary

It’s usually the technological limitations that prevent journalists from embracing new forms of storytelling, but that’s ridiculous. Too many journalists limit what they’re capable of learning by assuming the skills they need are out of reach. A couple books and a date with Lynda can even the playing field. It’s hard to imagine starting from scratch with a piece of software and making something that looks presentable, but similar skills from other platforms will carry over.

3) Target your weaknesses

Identify your weaknesses and work them into your next project. This will lead to a more well-rounded project and you’ll be a better journalist for it. If you’re not learning and growing, then you’re falling behind.

4) Set a deadline

Working on deadline is the fastest and easiest way to learn. I was fortunate to have an external deadline (a grade), but it also helps to pitch the project early. Tell you friends when they can see it and let them bug you until it’s live. There’s nothing that makes you move faster than a deadline.

5) Find an expert

With any project, it is extremely important to find an expert who is willing to help you through the project. This shouldn’t be used as a crutch, but rather a lifeline. There’s inevitably going to be problems and it’s important to find someone with the skills to get you through the rough spots. This person can help keep you on task and hold you accountable if you drop the ball.

6) Make the time

Finding spare time is tough so allocate the time you have accordingly. Set aside a couple hours each week to read or work on something new. Finding the time shouldn’t be a problem if you picked the right project.

7) Plan an attack

Producing an interactive multimedia site is great, but then what? How will you audience access the site? And how will you measure its success? Building a site and launching it are two different skills. Be prepared for both.

Think business

Try to think like a business major (in moderation). If you’re not, just fake it for a while. You might accidentally learn something extremely valuable. As an example, when I finished Times of Recession, I decided to market the project to local news organizations. I sent emails to online editors across the state and offered to sell them exclusive rights to the highest bidder. I was able to create competition between the organizations and help make the project more marketable. Thinking from a business perspectives can create new opportunities to do the work that you love.

9) Journalists can advertise too

Once you’ve identified your audience, don’t be afraid to advertise. I created a Facebook advertising campaign for less than $10 dollars that targeted online editors and multimedia producers (and places I wanted to intern). I was able to use a highly targeted ad campaign to get my site to the people with the power. The ad campaign left about 25,000 impressions on about 20 Facebook accounts. Pretty awesome stuff. In addition, many of the targeted users overestimated its distribution (because I was “advertising”) and were more likely to pick it up. Spending a few dollars on targeted advertising now will be worth it later.

10) Take a risk

Do something so ridiculous that people think you’re crazy. This doesn’t mean do something stupid, but make it a project that you can learn from. There has never been a better time to experiment. The biggest risks have the best rewards.

And #11, since every other list has 10…

11) Get started now

If you really want to “wow” somebody, it’s not going to happen in an email. Trust your instincts and be willing to learn. Plus, it’s a very different conversation when your boss knows what you can do. Many projects never happen because of the details. If the project matters and you can learn something new, then get started now. You can work out the details along the way.

Times of Recession

As a Minnesotan, I was born loving Herb Brooks’s famous “miracle” speech. There isn’t anyone, even this kid, who can deliver the speech that he did. However, “Rizzo” made this speech his own. In the same light, when I look at the current journalism environment, I am always looking for ways to compete with traditional journalists by making these stories my own. I ask two questions:

1) How has this story been told?
2) How have I told similar stories?

Then, I do the opposite. These two questions have been very powerful tools for me. The first question is your competitive advantage in a given market. This defines the work that you can do that no one else can. The second question is your area for growth. I consider this the “wouldn’t it be cool if…” philosophy.

For example, “wouldn’t it be cool if a 4-year-old kid could imitate Herb Brooks on YouTube and become a viral sensation?” Yeah, I think that’d be pretty cool.

Individual journalists should think like publicly traded companies (I know… stay with me). If you’re not learning and growing, then you’re losing your marketability. No one wants to invest in last year’s Turbo-Man.

Most of my projects have been inspired by other journalists’ work. When I started college, I really wanted to produce a video piece similar to Lou Raguse’s “Road Trip (2004).” As a result, I started learning Final Cut Pro and similar video editing tools. Similarly, when I produced Times of Recession, I was first inspired by Ohio University’s Soul of Athens project (2007). So I always ask one more question:

3) Who’s telling this story better than I am?

There are a lot of innovative journalists out there who are doing really great stuff. There’s nothing more humbling and motivating than watching some of the finest in online multimedia. When I see great journalism, I study these pieces and learn from them. Then, I try to figure out how they’re made. That’s the fun part.

Lastly, here’s my “hit list.” These are works that are so amazing that they make me want to learn.

1) Choosing a President
2) Crisis of Credit
3) Charity Water
4) Times of Crisis
5) Auto-Tune the News (just because)