Online Journalism News

CNN launches BackStory tool for developing news stories

CNN has launched a new online tool to show readers how stories have developed during reporting.

The BackStory feature shows significant events in the development of a news item as a slideshow, which can be scrolled through by the reader.

The articles are displayed along a timeline and links to profiles of a story's 'key players' are also provided.

The background information, which is linked to in a panel on the article page, is intended to give a 'quick recap' of events, Rachel Clarke, CNN.com's senior producer, said in an introduction to BackStory.

The interactive tool has been put to use for the first time in the website's coverage of the FBI's investigation into anthrax attacks in 2001.

Tags (click tag to find related articles; click icon for feed):
cnn | cnn backstory | rachel clarke |

Sign up here for our free, daily email newsletter to get all the latest stories, jobs, tips and more.

Got a story? Email our news team: Laura Oliver; Judith Townend or telephone +44 (0)1273 384290. You can also follow us on Twitter: @journalismnews / @LauraOliver / @JTownend.

blog comments powered by Disqus