Dallas Morning News reporter Anthony Moor recounted last week how the format of digital journalism is evolving. As he wrote on his personal blog:
Now we’re seeing the rise of the topical page as the atomic unit of content. Journalists will no longer write stories, persay. They’re going to write topics, which will have story-like elements, but won’t look anything like the articles they focus on today.
As an example, he notes that, “Smart news organizations are building topics pages,” linking to Dallas News topic pages powered by Daylife, featured below.
Moor gets to the heart of what Daylife CEO Upendra Shardanand describes in his PaidContent feature “Storytelling is Stuck in a Rut–What Publishers Can Do About It.” Shardanand praises structural innovation in the publishing industry, but wonders why the art form hasn’t evolved, concluding that:
New forms of storytelling could (a) make readers happier; (b) extend the lifespan of stories, making arcs from what are now transient and ephemeral events; and (c) create new sponsorship opportunities. And perhaps save a few trees as well.
It appears Anthony Moor would agree, and is enjoying the ride as this new storytelling process takes shape.