Newsable: turning data into stories

“Newsable” is an experimental initiative currently in development that explores ways we can use open data and transmedia storytelling techniques to make a complex social issue accessible and engaging over time for a range of New Zealanders and their communities.

While the creators of Newsable come from different factual storytelling backgrounds – Julie Starr from journalism and Anna Jackson from documentary and transmedia – we share a common interest in the possibilities of open data and interactive and immersive storytelling for civic engagement and participation.

After an initial phase of ideation, consultation and prototyping, “Newsable” will bring together a collaborative team of data journalists, developers, designers, researchers and storytellers to work on a pilot project that will focus on a single news issue (housing). We will select relevant news narratives (such as ‘child poverty’ or ‘housing affordability’), identify relevant data sets and then experiment with ways to use open data to create and share stories that are:

sourced and curated from credible sources all around New Zealand
open to ongoing participation that adds to the sum of knowledge and lends depth on the the data
packaged and distributed so they are meaningful and accessible to particular group of people
tailored to each mobile, social and web platform they’re published on
layered: from snackable, to summary, to detail and source documents
published using standards that make them findable and useful long after their initial publication
resurfaced, repackaged and re-promoted at intervals after their first publication
published under Creative Commons copyright licences so others can use and build on them.

Our storytelling ‘experiments’ may take any form, such as layered, interactive web stories, VR or 360 degree immersive videos, interactive documentary or social media narratives. Through this experimentation we hope to find effective ways to widen and deepen public engagement with important social issues in ways that mainstream/commercial news media cannot.