Learning Through Transmedia Storytelling in the Micro-context of Samara University, Russia

E. Agrikova, Russia

The fact that journalism has come to a new stage of development should be reflected in the journalists’ education. One of the main method of the new stage, convergent journalism, is transmedia storytelling that can be implemented into the bachelor’s education. In the paper the comparative analysis of traditional and transmedia journalistic works was made, and the possible ways of using techniques of transmedia storytelling in the course of study were proposed. The article can be useful for journalists, mass media specialists and educators who work with bachelors.

21st century is the time when journalism comes to a new stage of development called convergent. The common ground for journalistic convergence is the blurring of the limits between different media –professional skills, formats and production strategies (e.g., Dupagne and Garrison, 2006; Silcock and Keith, 2006). In other words, it is the combination of verbal and non-verbal communication. The founder of the term «convergent journalism», Henry Jenkins said that there are three main concepts that shape this phenomenon – the flow of the content across multiple media platforms; the cooperation between multiple media industries and the migratory behaviour of media audiences who will go anywhere in search of the kinds of entertainment experiences they want [2, p. 17]. One of the methods where all of these specific features can be taken into consideration is transmedia storytelling.

The main sphere where convergent journalism can exist is the Internet. Furthermore, nowadays the Internet becomes one of the principal means of getting information. According to statistics, the amount of Russian Internet-media has grown from 6220 to 9,5 thousand since 2011. The usage of Inernet-media increased by 61%. Since 2005 the amount of online-media registration increased by 482%. These facts prove that journalism's main field of work becomes the Internet [3]. Now let's get a view of transmedia storytelling and the skills that are neccessary for creating it.

Transmedia storytelling is a specific form of narration that unfolds through different forms of languages (verbal, iconic, etc.) and means of media (videos, photos and pictures, etc). The main feature of it is that the story is not repeated in all forms of narration, but contribute to the construction of it. Henry Jenkins produced the core concepts of transmedia storytelling that are world-building, seriality, subjectivity, performance, spreadability and drillability, continuity and multiplicity, immersion and extractability.

World-building stands for participatory culture – the changing of roles of consumers who interact with the producers. Now consumers prefer to seek out new information and absorb it in their own way, which is possible today due to the interlinked nature of the Internet. Seriality means that the creator of the story should always search for new media platforms and new development of the information given. Subjectivity focuses on consumers experiencing different perspective blends. Performance inspires readers to produce and perform their own storytelling that can invigorate scenario innovation of the story. With the use of spreadability and drillability the creator can report stories faster to the larger public. Continuity and multiplicity help to unfold the story in separate lines and across the diversed media. Immersion and extractability provide the reader's dipping into the story [2, p.23].

Journalists have always hoped to be not only educational, but also powerfully resonant and interesting to their public. By implementing the techniques of transmedia storytelling to journalism, journalists can combine the power of new- and old-media tools and interpersonal networks to engage the public better. Moreover, according to the journalist Kevin Moloney nowadays the most important professional journalistic obligation is “to tell the most complete story possible. For example, by providing drillable stories journalists encourage the reader to find more complete contextual information and the inevitable multiple perspectives on any story.” [4] This could be done with the help of transmedia storytelling.

There were several precedents in journalism of making such transmedia stories. The first one was made by New York Times on the Web in 1996. Photo editor Fred Ritchin and French photojournalist Gilles Peress produced an interactive photo essay that would allow the reader to drill deeper into the story to see beyond traditional presentation. The result, “Bosnia: Uncertain Paths to Peace,” was multilinear, multimedia and interlinked with contextual information [5]. With the help of hyperlinks the reader can disclose the content by his/her own scenario. Another transmedia project was also done by New York Times in 2012. The name of this story “Snow Fall. The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek” became institution and was awarded Pulitzer Prize [6]. This was an investigation by a journalist John Brench about a snowbreak in the park Tunnel Creek in Australia. This transmedia project is much more interactive due to the technologies which have come with the digital age, but the principles remain the same. The following examples show that those stories which are of investigative nature lend well to the transmedia approach. But it can also be news stories where a larger project might report on longstanding effects.

The differences between traditional journalistic piece of work and a transmedia one can be observed in the following table:

This table shows that working with the transmedia storytelling requires specific skills. Let’s find out which of them are necessary for journalists who want to succeed in contemporary reality of journalism.

Taking into consideration Jenkins’ seven principles and the diversity of production we single out the following skills:

• combination of text, video, audio, images in one product;
• administrating multimedia content and adaptating the material for miscellaneous media resources;
• creation of the advanced, multidementional informational framework with the help of different means of media and hypertext links (web-portal, social networking, story-guided user-generated content);
• making the right composition of transmedia narratives;
• imbedding the audience in the story and making them the co-creators;
• creation of interstitial microstories which after combining unfold the whole story.

Some educators propose that transmedia storytelling can be used not only by journalists, but also by school and university students. Laura Flemming says that transmedia learning is the application of storytelling techniques combined with the use of multiple platforms to create an immersive learning landscape which enables multivarious entry and exit points for learning and teaching. Transmedia pedagogy uses technology in an integrated way that allows learners and content to flow seamlessly across media platforms. Education across multiple media allows for great continuity in learning. Every piece of the puzzle works to engage the learner. Transmedia techniques, when responsibly and effectively applied in an educational context, immerse students in their own learning and, as a happy corollary, advance media literacy education for all [7, p.370].

Speaking about the exercises and activities that are aimed at developing the following skills, the main type of exercises should be those, which are of integrative nature. For example, exercises aimed at integrating text into video, audio and vice versa, making materials for different information-bearer channels (web-site, blogs, social nets), making short stories or even essays that can be developed further to complete the story. Another effective method to teach how-to use transmedia storytelling is to create a project or an essay with the help of the Internet and different media platforms such as Google, YouTube, Infogram, Instagram and other social nets.

The whole educative process of the following skills can be implied into a project. In the micro-context of Samara University the students of different majors (History and Journalism) are currently working on a transmedia project called “Samara for International Guests”.

Samara is a large city where a lot of international projects and forums are held. The upcoming World Cup – 2018, active affluence of foreign students and specialists from abroad mean that Samara becomes attractive for foreigners. These conditions impose occurrence of a well-developed, informational-communicative space with the educative and entertaining aims. The transmedia project “Samara For International Guests” can contribute to the development of such space. The main objective is to tell the story of Samara Region in an interactive form so that the target audience will not only learn a lot of new, but also will participate in the conversation. The students develop their foreign language competence preparing the materials in English. Moreover, they learn how to develop the story through multiple platforms using their logic and abstract thinking. Writing literacy (both academic and colloquial) is also a very important part in making out this project.

In conclusion, the stage where the development of nowadays journalism is, requires a lot of new, up-to-date skills. The model of multi-skilling journalist who can produce and publish all forms of mass media is acute. Transmedia storytelling is a very complex and labyrinthine phenomenon that should be examined and analyzed further. But the realias claim journalists to create it if they want to succeed in this brisk paced, competitive sphere. The development of mentioned skills helps would-be journalists keep track of modern tendencies.

References:

Dupagne M., Garrison B. The meaning and influence of convergence /Journalism Studies. 2006. Vol. 7, No. 2.

Jenkins H. Convergence Culture. Where Old and New Media Collide. New York, 2008.

Pletz T. Media in Russia in 2016. Data Analysis for the last 25 years. [Electronic source] // MediaDigger. 2016. URL: http://www.mediadigger.ru/smi-rossii-v-2016-analiz-dannyh-za-25-let/ (accessed date: 18.07.2016).

Moloney K. Building Transmedia Journalism [Electronic source] // Transmedia Journalism. 2014. URL: http://transmediajournalism.org/contexts/building-transmedia-journalism/ (accessed date: 18.07.2016).

Peress G. Bosnia: Uncertain Paths to Peace [Electronic source] // New York Times. 1996. URL: http://www.pix- 
elpress.org/bosnia/ (accessed date: 18.07.2016).

Brench J. Snowfall. Avalanche at Tunnel Creek [Electronic source] // Ibid. 2012. URL: http://www.nytimes.com/pro- jects/2012/snow-fall/#/?part=tunnel-creek (accessed date: 18.07.2016).

Fleming L. Expanding learning opportunities with transmedia practices: Inanimate Alice as an Exemplar // Journal of Media Literacy Education. 2013. No 5. Р. 370–377.

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