13 seconds in August
Posted on November 28th, 2007 – 5:52 PMBy Cory Powell
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This week’s “13 Seconds in August,” which appeared as a graphic in Tuesday’s newspaper and as an interactive package online, was a great example of the kind of meticulous reporting only a newspaper can do and how it can benefit from the power of multimedia storytelling.The project was born in the days immediately after the collapse of the I-35W bridge. Looking at the photos and video footage of the disaster, we couldn’t help but wonder who, exactly, was in those cars and on that bridge? And what happened to them?
The joint print-and-online project chronicles the stories of those on the I-35W bridge when it collapsed on August 1. In Wednesday’s paper, a two-page graphic detailed where each vehicle on the bridge landed after the collapse, with information on the drivers and passengers. On StarTribune.com, scores of survivors recount their experiences in their own words in video and audio interviews.
This project is the culmination of months of investigative work by a team of reporters, editors, graphic artists, videographers and photographers. But it is also a living document. We will continue to update it as we learn new information, and we welcome your contributions to that process.
Taken individually or as companion pieces, the print and online versions offer a rich, deep look at the lives forever changed in those 13 terrifying seconds.
What did you think?
