More from Sky News...

I have been speaking to Adam Harding (deputy editor of interactive) from Sky News again for another assignment at University. This assignment (for professional studies) involved profiling a media organisation and somebody who works within it. When speaking to him on the phone, some interesting points come up. I will post more after the deadline has passed (Monday).

Here is something that interested me from my conversation with him. It involves the next development in Sky TV. Adam told me:

"The next big move will be to link up with broadband internet. This is something we are currently looking at working towards at Sky. We hope to create a semi-broadband web experience. It would combine television with internet surfing. This will help personalisation. Your television will know where you are, and provide information which you need. For example it will know where you are, and tell you the weather forecast for your area. It could also target things such as shares directly for you. "

PS3 Delay: Confirmed

BBC.co.uk are reporting: "The release of the much awaited PlayStation 3 (PS3) games console has been postponed until November, Japanese electronics group Sony has announced. "

This confirms the news which I posted back in February from www.computerworld.be.

In the article it also states that Sony are looking to release the PS3 in the US, Japan and Europe simultaneously.

You can read the full article at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4807858.stm

The Future Of My Blog?

This blog was started as part of an assignment in an module on online journalism at the UCE.

I guess as I found out when researching - there are no (that I could find, and I will still look!) bloggers on quizzes and surveys in online journalism, or much that actually refers to them in articles on the net etc.

Even when I look now for blogs on blogger.com, I still find it constantly linking to my own blog, which is quite cool :)

Although I have no handed in my assignment, I will try my best to keep the blog updated if I stumble across any quizzes/surveys or anything about them in online journalism! (Just incase there is anybody reading this blog!)

--Matt

OJ: How Euro Are You?

Returning to the BBC for another example of how Flash can be used to make quizzes/surveys. BBC's 'How Euro Are You?' quiz is made completely out of Flash, and all results have been reported on their results page for everybody to see. This is also an example of what I was told by Adam Harding, deputy editor of Sky News online , they are useful to an editor as they can produce statistics that can be used in future news items/reports.

• The Quiz -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/programmes/

• The Results -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/how_euro_are_you/4283580.stm

• All the details about 'How Euro Are You?' can be found at -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/how_euro_are_you/4134442.stm

Gaming: Golden Joystick Awards to be televised

Heard on BBC Radio 1 this morning that the Golden Joystick Awards will be shown on the TV in the UK this year.

I was interested in finding out when and where it would be shown, and while looking, I came across an article on xgpgaming.com:

Now in its 24th year, the long-running gaming awards returns to the Park Lane Hilton, London on Friday, 27th October. With over a dozen categories chosen solely by the votes of UK gamers, the awards will feature in a special Golden Joystick Awards TV show screened on ITV4."

To read the full article go to

http://www.xgpgaming.com/news/news.php?id=2753

OJ: More examples from the BBC

Just been trying to think of some quizzes I have taken part in online and suddenly remembered two from the BBC.

Citizenship Test

When the BBC reported that there would be a "British Citizenship test", they began linking to their own Citizenship test. For example on stories such as this one: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/UK/4706862.stm, they linked to their test, located at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4099770.stm
I remember taking part in this quiz (and I gather I wouldn't pass the main test) and I remember lots of people talking about the test on the radio, referring to these sample tests online.

Road Signs Quiz

BBC also reported back in March last year that more than half of London's motorists are confused by roadsigns. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/England/London/4353125.stm. They then added a quiz later in the month testing visitors knowledge of road signs. The quiz can be found at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4371971.stm

Now, I might not be able to pass the British citizenship test, but I can pass the road signs test easily :)

Some more examples...

Some other examples from the BBC I have found are:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4687276.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4700868.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4770098.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/default.stm - A daily 'mini-quiz' can be found on this page

Even more examples: Oscars

Events like the Oscars Academy Awards seem to be very popular when it comes to quizzes as a form of online journalism. I've also managed to find a survey on it!!

After posting about the BBC Oscars quiz (which is very impressive), I have found a few more I would like to share with you all.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Oscars2006/popup?id=1667246 - This is ABCNews.com's quiz. There are only five questions, but would interest anybody who has an interest in films - which is would obviously target in its reports about films and the Oscars.

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Oscars2006/story?id=1674738&entertainment=true - We return to ABCNews.com, but this time for a survey! It was asking visitors to vote who they think would win some categories. It then gives you results for each category. Great to see if other viewers are voting for the same as you! There is a mini-survey about George Clooney at: http://abcnews.go.com/2020/popup?id=1670980

http://cbs2.com/entertainment/local_story_053074742.html - Not the best "technically" quiz design, but still a fun quiz for movie-lovers. You cannot actually select an answer, so it doesn't produce any results for you at the end.

http://www.channel4.com/film/chatvotewin/quiz/O/oscars.jsp - I have been looking to see if Channel 4 had been linking to this in their news stories, but so far I have found no evidence of this - but I will keep looking.

Backgrounder Article: E3

As I have been looking at some of the consoles that will be released over the next couple of months, for my backgrounder peice as part of my Assignment 1 in Online Journalism I will look at E3.

The Electronic Entertainment Expo is an annual trade show for proffesionals in the game industry and journalists. It is held in Los Angeles. This year's E3 will be held from May 10th to May 12th at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

If I was to write an article about this year's E3, I would possibly look at some of these following (some are more obveous places, others aren't)

• http://www.e3expo.com/ and http://www.e3insider.com/ - The official E3 sites. Would be the most obveous place to look for 'official' press releases and information.
• http://2005.e3expo.com/e3expo/ - From the official site, which talks about last year's event...E3 2005. Would be useful if you need information on last year's E3
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Entertainment_Expo - Wikipedia has a great section of E3. Has a section about the E3 event, and even the layout of the Los Angeles Convention Center.
• http://www.lacclink.com/ - The official site for the Los Angeles Convention Center. Would be useful to find out any information about the actual venue.
• http://www.gamecloud.com/ - A game site which regularly posts about E3. For example: http://www.gamecloud.com/article.php?article_id=3797
• http://www.planetgamecube.com/ - Nintendo game site which has often reports about game events, including E3.
• http://www.xgpgaming.com/ - XPGaming.com has lots of news for many consoles, will be sure to report on the E3 event
• http://e3.g4tv.com - G4TV@E3 gives lots of information from 2004's E3 event, would be useful if the article would need to look at past events, maybe good for facts for quizzes etc

Blogs:

• http://www.usatoday.com/tech/conventions/blog.htm - A blog by USA Today from last years E3 event. Maybe they'll do another one for 2006?
• http://www.videogamesblogger.com/ - Video Games blog, open since November 2005. Seems constantly updated, some references to E3. Sure to be give updates from E3 2006!
• http://getgamesnow.blogspot.com/ - A great gaming blog. Made several posts leading up to E3 2005, and is still updated regularly.
• http://www.gamespy.com - Reports on E3 and also usually has their own 'blog' during the event. 2004's can be found at: http://www.gamespy.com/articles/512/512951p1.html 2003's can be found at: http://www.gamespy.com/articles/615/615272p1.html
• http://e3.g4tv.com/blogs.aspx - Blogs from 2004's E3 event, from a few different bloggers

Forums:

• http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board?board.id=e3expo - A board from the official PlayStation site for E3 discussions
• http://boards.gamefaqs.com/ - A huge forum for gaming discussion. Will be sure to have threads about the next E3 on the lead-up to the event
• http://www.xgpgaming.com/forums/- XGP Gaming's forums. Also does "Daily news" on forums.
• Other forums for console discussions can be found in my previous thread Console Forums

OJ: BBC Oscars Quiz

BBC News has been linking to their latest quiz on the Oscars 2006!

In my view it is a great quiz. It is a multiple choice quiz, with a total of twelve questions. There are several questions show some of the advantages of using Macromedia Flash. Question two shows a video from the film Brokeback Mountain, and asks a question from the video clip. Question three is audio from Nick Park and Steve Box (Wallace and Gromit creator and co-director), and you have to guess who is talking in the audio clip.

The fifth question actually replays the correct part of the video show the correct answer, which is quite neat.

There is also a "drag and drop" question, which seems to re-appear in most of the BBC online quizzes.

I would advise you all check it out at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4754292.stm

Just ignore the fact that the BBC doesn't realise the year is 2006, not 2005.

Here are some screen-shots from the quiz:

Opening Shot
Brokeback Mountain Video
Brokeback Mountain Video Question
Audio Question
Crash Video
Crash Video Question Answer
Drag & Drop Question

OJ: Why FoxNews.com don't use quizzes & surveys

After speaking to Sky News and Guardian Unlimited, I decided to try and contact Fox News Online. I got a very interesting reply back when asking them about the uses of quizzes and surveys online.

A member of the Fox Online team emailed me telling me:

"Our website is created using a content management system, and it limits polls (we don't really quiz) to one per section (whether it's a story page or section front). At the moment, however, you can't target a poll to a specific story in our system.

Our editorial management has been lax about using polls. It's not clear why. We have one on the home page, related to our Business section. Some shows also use polls (On the Record, for example)."

Maybe one of the reasons to avoid using quizzes are the technical difficulties? Something to think about...

The Fox News website can be accessed by www.foxnews.com

OJ: Examples from the BBC

I have been on the search again for some more examples of quizzes. After looking at ABC News and USA Today, I thought it was best to look at the good ol' BBC!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4687276.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4700868.stm

These two are quizzes which provide the answers after you have submitted all your answers. They are very factual about specific subjects.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4770098.stm

This is similar to ABCNews.com's daily news quiz, but this is a weekly news quiz. Unlike the other two BBC.co.uk examples, this quiz is made by Macromedia Flash. It seems more "interactive" as it has questions which involve using pictures, and even a 'drag and drop' question in the style of a newspaper headline. At the end it does total-up your overall score.

They similarly do this with a "Quiz of the year's news", but with 52 questions, which is made in exactly the same way. This can be accessed at:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4541490.stm

OJ: Examples from ABC and USA Today

I have just been searching around for some more examples of quizzes and surveys. Here they are, and my thoughts on them:

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/US/story?id=1577055 - Rudeness Quiz - This is a quiz to basically see how rude you are! There are five questions with a simple 'yes' 'no' answers. When you click 'yes' or 'no' it opens a popup window, which I gather registers your vote with them, which they can then use for statistical data. Then at the bottom, there is a link to find out how polite you really are. I think this would work well for ABC to get some stats, but isn't very entertaining to do.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/popup?id=148085 - A daily news quiz by ABC, which tests your knowledge on the days news. This one has right/wrong answers, and actually tells you the correct answer after choosing your answer. This seems to work better than some of my previous examples, as it gives a final grade at the end of the quiz.

http://www.usatoday.com/img/content/flash/
gburnout/frame.htm - "Are you burned out?" is made with Flash, which makes it look more interesting. It calculates your answers and gives you a summary at the end, and allows you to view the other point scores.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/
nation/polls/usatodaypolls.htm - Results from a survey about the 2004 US elections. Very detailed results!! Other survey results can be found by using the links on the left of the site.

Have fun if you’re going to try them!

So I want to use a quiz?

After looking at all the positives and negatives of using quizzes as a form of online journalism, I have decided to see what I would feel would be the most effective way to make a quiz if I was to make one.

The quiz would ideally be used in a topic which has lots of facts which we would like to get the audience to know. It would also need to be of interest to the target audience. For example, if there was a news article about Bird Flu, a quiz would work quite well. It would enable us to feed fact to our audience in a more interactive way, and is a topical story.

When beginning to actually make the quiz, I would need to think about the 'technical side' of things. Will I want to make the quiz is simply by using HTML, or would it benefit me and the audience more by using something such as Flash. Several examples I have given in this blog have used Flash, and some haven't. I think although the audience would have to install the Flash plugin to take part in the survey, it is a great way to make the quiz look unique and more entertaining. Quizzes which 'round up the week's news' on Guardian Unlimited seem to work well, but I think for this example I will decide to use Macromedia Flash. Loading times will need to be taken into consideration, as if we use too many images/sounds within the quiz - it will be slow for the users to use.

I would of course need to research into what questions (and the answers hopefully!) I will be using. They need to relate specifically to the news story and can help deliver facts and figures. Also any images would need to be found or created to accompany the quiz.

Something to think about would be how I want the answers to be displayed, and how this will benefit the audience the most. One example I have used (The Beatles quiz - http://archives.cnn.com/2000/SHOWBIZ/Music/09/04/
beatles/index.html) gave the answers in a text box. Although this worked well because the user sees the correct answer, it doesn't work as well because it doesn't give overall results. The White Sox quiz (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/graphics/baseball/
whitesox_quiz/flash.htm) does this also, but gives an overall results, which makes it seem a little more fun when taking part in the quiz. I believe that producing a quiz about something like Bird Flu would work well by displaying the correct answer if a wrong one is selected, with a little more information next to the answer. It would be ideal to produce some sort of results at the end of the quiz, which could also be submitted to the web site for statistical data, similar to the BBC Olympic Game quiz - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/3529118.stm)

And that’s my guide to making a successful quiz!

PS3: Some more blogs

http://www.myps3.be/ - A blog dedicated to the PS3. Seems to be updated regularly. Has different sections for facts, games and rumors. All 'fact' articles have references to its sources - which show it is a reliable source for news.

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/games/
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/games/archives/playstation/ - A games blog from The Guardian Unlimited which links to several stories about games, and has its own section for Sony PlayStation. It is updated regularly and often links to official Sony press releases, which show it is a reliable news source.

Guardian Unlimited: Quiz Page

Just came across a link to The Guardian web site after my conversation with Jon Dennis, deputy news editor of Guardian Unlimited.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/quiz Has several examples of quizzes used recently on their web site. They include quizzes linked to from news articles and also general news knowledge quizzes.

OJ: The quest continues: Guardian Unlimited

As my quest continues to find out why media organisations use quizzes and surveys in online journalism, I turn to Jon Dennis, the deputy news editor for Guardian Unlimited.

I asked, "When do you feel it is necessary to include a quiz in a news story?" Jon explained:

"If it adds value to the story. If, for example, there is a story about research showing people don't know much about science, then we could do a factual quiz testing people's knowledge of science. Or we might do it for fun. Where we would not do a quiz - which I think should really be always fun for the reader to do - is to run alongside "serious" news stories involving death, injury, personal tragedy or loss. In these instances a quiz would obviously be inappropriate."

My next question was to see when he thought surveys would be useful in online journalism. He told me:

"I think we would do so frequently and on any subject where a subject might be illuminated by discussion, or simply a
subject where a range of views and experiences are likely to be held.

In the past we've had discussions on our talk boards:
http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?14@@.ee74cb9. Our readers still use this part of the site, but in recent years we've tended to use the medium of blogs: http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news On this part of the site we can get our writers to express a view or suggest a topic for discussion in a lively and informative way."

Jon then told me what he believed both of these had in common with each other. "What they have in common is a degree of interactivity, though clearly a forum such as a blog has a higher and more sophisticated degree of interactivity than a multiple-choice quiz. Also, both are mediums that you could only offer on the internet - ie not in the printed Guardian newspaper"

You can visit the Guardian Unlimited web site at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/