Vox, the digital magazine headed up by erstwhile Washington Post wunderkind Ezra Klein, is adding a wrinkle to its articles that could add more dimension and clarity to its editorial content.
Harvard’s Nieman Journalism Lab reports this week that Vox will include full interview transcripts with some of its stories, citing a recent Matthew Yglesias piece on economist and author Thomas Piketty. The format offers readers the option to click back and forth between story and transcript, essentially enabling them to experience both the refined and raw content.
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While some have lamented the feature’s excessive interactivity, Nieman’s Joshua Benton writes that it’s a simple but potentially important step.
“Is this revolutionary? Nope. But think about the small good things it does,” Benton writes. “It presents content in two different forms. Some people will prefer the story; some will prefer the interview. … It does so at virtually no cost; the interview’s already complete. And it aligns well with Vox’s message that they’re promoting depth and understanding rather than surface knowledge. … It opens up the possibility of richer testing and audience data.”
To read more about Vox’s new feature, visit NiemanLab.org.