The recent flooding in the Northwest provided a good example of a situation where taking the extra time to MAP the news can add real context and meaning to a story.
Unlike the preceding winter storm, which was concentrated in well-known, urban areas, the flooding hit small, lesser known towns hardest. Many of these communities are places the average local TV viewer may not have heard of, or at a minimum would have difficulty locating.
On KGW.com, we wrote stories and posted photos and videos from the affected areas, as we would normally do. But we also created an interactive map using Google's mapping feature, situating the stories, videos and photos onto a map that the user can control and explore.
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The result is a highly visual way of putting the story in context, conveying the breadth of the storm and also educating users about the places where the damage happened.
Creating a quick where-did-a-story-happen map takes only minutes using Quikmaps. Creating a multi-media map that includes multiple locations and multiple tyoes of media content can take several hours but is well worth it when the geographic reach is part of the story, and where there are many content elements.
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