Poking around on the Web, I've found that some of the better interactive sites are actually not news sites.
There are some really visually appealing and useful sites out there from which news sites can learn.
Now, of course, that's not to say that there aren't some very impressive news sites with multimedia and interactive features already out there. The NY Times Web site has some of the best multimedia content in the country.
But I think that the future of journalism is going to best showcase these interactive features in a Web site much like everyblock.com. If you haven't already seen this site and you're a journalist, you must go there immediately. The site allows someone to choose one of the major cities, type in an address or area of town and then see a lot of information about that area. You can look at what's going on in the area, points of interest near the address, real estate listings, and you can narrow the search to look just at crime history, etc.
It's really a site showing someone who has waded through important information and then presented that information in a way that can help others. A one-stop kind of Web site will be what the future of news sites looks like, and this site already is showing a lot of potential.
Another interesting site that presents boring numbers in an interesting way is worldmapper.org. Though not as well designed, the animation maps on the site give news consumers information quickly and visually. The idea behind it is fairly simple, but it works.
Another cool site to check out is visualthesaurus.com. You won't find any news or stats or facts on this site, but it's great for brainstorming purposes. You do have to subscribe to it to use it, but you're allowed a trial when you first go to the site.
It shows words and their synonyms along with related words in a web that changes each time you click on a new component. The map morphs and shows more or less words with each click. I don't think the site altogether is very informative, but it still shows a great interactive design. It's simple. It works. It keeps the consumer engaged.
I think a good way for journalists to brainstorm multimedia ideas is to include other sites than news sites in their hunt for ideas.
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