PandoDaily ran a piece called “From word games to spy games” on the encryption and the NSA’s attempts to undermine it writen by David Holmes, and Explainer Music (where he is a co-founder).
Whilst the content interests me, it was the way that the piece was put together that really intrigued me. The subheadings had different images and the brown manilla folder was a good visual gag. It covered what is a difficult area in terms of concepts and ways of making it accessible without being cheesy or over-simplistic but it had in-depth research and journalism.
Not only was it a long piece with chapters and subheadings, like the pieces I still buy the weekend newspaper for, but it also had some fun games in it. The interactive pieces that I’ve come across do not always engage me but thes games that encouraged you to crack the code where great. Not only do they allow the user to play a short game but it also encourages them to think and use the actual content of the article.
I have stopped reading some technology blogs as the research quality appears to have gone down in recent months and years but Pando is one of the blogs that I regularly come back and read. I may not agree with it but I am fairly certain that I will find a piece that I will want to read. In a post published yesterday, Adam L. Penenberg mused on memes that will “save journalism“. It is a worth a read.
In the meantime, pieces like the Holmes one on the NSA win for me in terms of its depth and hooks for the curious but also the way it uses technology to engage without being intrusive but also in a way that builds on the writing. In this case, PandoDaily draws from its roots (sorry, could not resist).
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