The people at FLYPmedia have got it down!  Headed by Jim Gaines, they have developed a product that manages not only to be more cost efficient than a print magazine, but also more engaging for its readers.

Have you ever looked at a magazine spread and come across a picture and wondered what the photographer was thinking when they took the shot?  Or read a quote and wondered what the speaker’s voice sounded like?  Was their voice high or extremely low? Were they nervous? What was the emotion behind the printed words?  FLYPmedia ezine, covering everything from science and news to entertainment, has taken those questions and given readers a format that answers them; creating pieces that do not simply function as a story accompanied by sporadic multimedia additions, but rather, exist as a whole to insure the reader an experience that makes the story come alive.

With a clean design, simple lines and brief blurbs, the website, initially doesn’t look like it would be too multimedia savvy, but when you click on a story and are taken to a spread that offers an answer to all the aforementioned questions, it is evident that the time spent in creating these stories is an art form unto its own.

Examples:

http://www.flypmedia.com/

http://www.flypmedia.com/issues/plus/25/#1/1

http://www.flypmedia.com/issues/plus/23/#1/1

James Gaines has worn a number of hats during his time in the world of printed words.  He is a journalist, author, and international publishing consultant, to name a few, but perhaps, what he is most know for is his work as managing editor for publications such as TIME, Life and People magazines.  He was also corporate editor of Time Inc.  Gaines was influential at each of these top-selling publications in establishing online and multimedia outlets.  He was managing editor and publisher of Life, making his stint, the first time that one person held both positions at a Time-Life magazine. Because of his influential revamping of Life into a weekly newsmagazine during the first Persian Gulf War, he was appointed to editor of TIME, making him the first person to run three Time-Life magazines.

“I was in the magazine business for years and when I left it I was done with magazines,” Gaines said. “Until I saw FLYP and I thought, ‘This is where magazines are headed.’”

That was 18 months ago. Now, as editor-in-chief of FLYPmedia, Gaines feels confident in the format of this online magazine, and says they are just waiting for a device to be developed that will take it to the next level.  He said that with technology such as the Apple Tablet coming in development, and other devices that offer beautiful graphics, HD quality, and a handheld format, “The web will become a leisure activity, something you can do in an easy-chair or at the beach.”

“The web will become a medium as distinct as radio and TV.” Gaines said.  Being all too familiar with the cost of paper and ink, thanks to his days as an editor, Gaines believes online magazines will become more and more commonplace as people in the business realize they can do more, such as have beautiful compositions that incorporate all kinds of multimedia experiences- video, commentary, graphics, photography- for less.

Right now, the web, for most, is a place we go when we need to get things done- send an e-mail, check statistics on something, check a bank account etc. However, as the people begin to see a more user friendly format arise, the transition from internet as work place to internet as leisure will begin to flow in. This is a concept that we can already see taking hold of the public with things such as the Kindle or Barns and Noble’s version, the Nook. Devices such as these will only help to warm the public up to the idea of the internet coming to them in this format Gaines and his team is waiting for.

With the web taking hold more and more strongly, journalists have an obligation to the public to adapt they way they tell stories, and with all the tools the internet and multimedia offer, which can create a more engaging atmosphere for the reader, it is up to those on the forefront of journalism to embrace the changing tides as much as the team at FLYPmedia have.

As a part of a panel held at Columbia’s journalism school, Jacob Weisberg told current journalism students that mastery of new media and multimedia has gone up on his list of employee requirements.  He told the forum that once upon a time he leaned more toward hiring people who had a strict print (newspaper or magazine) background, assuming they would pick up the tricks of the multimedia trade as they became more used to the environment. However, as the generational surge continues toward tech-savvy readers, Weisberg now says that prospective employees who have a strong grasp of multimedia and know how to effectively intersperse those tools throughout a journalistic piece are more likely to find jobs in the journalism field.

Finding a way to seamlessly incorporate multimedia elements into stories is vitally important to the world of new journalism; however, what is also important is finding a way to seamlessly fit this new stage of journalism into the classroom, where the future of journalism is busy preparing to make their debut into this evolving front.  David Moltz’s blog on maintaining journalism school’s relevance discussed this matter and noted several schools that were attempting to come up with their own way of doing just that.  Perhaps one of the best models I read came from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism which is introducing classes which focus on multimedia as well as ethics and quantitative skill.

With the power that multimedia can have on persuasion, it is important to remember that as journalists we are supposed to present an unbiased product to the public.  Therefore, at a time when the rules of multimedia are being established, it seems very intelligent to keep the students aware of how many people will be viewing their work, as well as the ethical issues that go along with presenting any piece of information.

Elizabeth Thoman and Tessa Jolls, at the Center for Media Literacy in Los Angeles, discuss the importance of understanding the new ways the world is getting information, and focus primarily on educating multimedia creators in how to effectively work with the tools these changing times have provided.  There are five key questions a multimedia creator should be paying attention to, says Thoman and Jolls: Who created this message? What creative techniques are being used to attract attention? How many ways could this information be perceived? What lifestyles, values, points of view are present or omitted from this message? and Why is this message being sent?

These five questions explain that all multimedia messages must be “Created” by someone, and therefore acknowledges that there must be strict consideration of what goes into these presentations. Not every person will read / see / experience a story in the same fashion. An American woman and a woman who has grown up in an oppressive country will probably not have the same filter when reading something about women’s rights, for example.  Therefore, while we as journalists consider ways to effectively layout a cohesive design that incorporates multimedia in a reader-friendly manner, we must also take into consideration the importance of appealing to the largest audience as possible.

According to Swewll Chan, a writer for the New York Times City Room Blogger, the idea of integration of multimedia into print isn’t even a concept that has to be toyed with anymore, it’s a given.  Chan, along with other members of the journalism world were discussing the changing media landscape even back in 2008 as part of a Columbia University Journalism School panel. According to David Cohn, founder of Spot.us, the changes we see in how people go about getting their information is never going to return to the way it was before new media took the scene. Therefore, it is up to the journalistic fleet to figure out what the new world of journalism looks like. “We should think of it as research and development,” Cohn said. “Journalism will survive on the shoulders of its failures.”

As someone who got their first computer while still in grade school, I whole heartedly stand by that belief. I can not imagine a world where I did not have access to this bottomless pit of information known as the internet.  Also as a chid of the new media / multimedia generation, I believe more strongly than ever that strong consideration of content and close attention to design and detail must be at the forefront of peoples journalistic plans.  The old way of doing things is of the past- how’s the saying go? If you can’t beat them, join them?  Well, I believe we’ve reached that point.

Ronald A. Yaros’ article “Mastering Multimedia” tackles the issue surrounding the varying multimedia resources journalists now have access to: How to use tools such as video, sound, and networking websites in the most efficient way possible.  Finding a way to accurately relay the informative side of a story, while also successfully weaving multimedia aspects into the layout is a task the online journalism world is desperately trying to master.  In this iPhone driven world where the internet is quite literally available at the touch of a finger, the news is more rapidly available than ever before.  With that availability comes a readership that has become more accustomed to the art of “Skimming” than previous generations, as well.

Yaros’ article focuses on this characteristic and discusses the importance of contiguity- the idea of strategically placing multimedia elements throughout a story, creating a cohesive overlap between video, polls and other multimedia that allows the reader to be actively engaged in the story throughout its entirety, rather than choosing to focus on one or the other: story or multimedia- something he refers to as “Reader-centered structure”.

As we see community journalism popping up more and more with the advent of blogs, such as this one; social networks and other platforms that share the ability to present news in some format, the idea Yaros proposes is quite sound.  Melding form and function into the presentation of online news sources seems a valid means of creating a following that will pay as much attention to the article as the graphics that go along with it. Yaros also seems very astute to the reality that people like to be in control of the way they read a story.  Recognizing that pop-up’s, automatic sound and automatic video are ineffective methods of utilizing these new media tools. Finding a way to accommodate the linear reading tendencies of an audience into the nonlinear format the internet provides will require strict structural consideration on the journalists part, as well as editors, layout designers, photographers, and videographers- a concept that, though it is still in the brainstorming stages, seems to have the potential to unite, not only, reader with story, but also the members of the journalism world, who, in this fast paced environment, have, perhaps, experienced a decline in communication among themselves.