Trinity Mirror has announced the name of its new data journalism project previously dubbed ‘Mystery Project Y.’
The soon-to-be-launched website, which promises to “make journalism more accessible through data visualisations and infographics,” will be called ampp3d.
Twitter and Facebook pages have now been set up for the project but the site itself has yet to go live.
ampp3d will sit alongside UsvsTh3m, Trinity’s Buzzfeed-style social content site, which announced last month it had attracted nearly 3m unique users in October.
The project’s Facebook page says the site will “create socially shareable data journalism.”
“It’s a mobile first, topical, factual data-driven site with an exclusively digital focus. The site will be publishing charts, graphs, facts, figures and producing infographics to explore both the day’s news agenda and a range of topics that people care passionately about,” it states.
The publisher recently hired a data journalist, data journalism researcher, front-end developer and designer to work on the project.
Details contained in the initial job descriptions suggest that it may focus on politics and current affairs
The site’s Twitter page went live yesterday with the handle @ampp3d.
It has already attracted more than 500 followers.
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***BANGS HEAD ON DESK***
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Ha Ha Ha
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Data visualisations? Infographics? Socially shareable data journalism? Buzzfeed-style social content?
The site “promises to make journalism more accessible” – but clearly not with anything as old-fashioned as plain English.
Room for two heads on your desk, Enough Is Enough? I’ll join you.
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Visualisations? Auto graphics? Sounds like a real money spinner.
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Da-ta-da-ta-da-ta-da!
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Who is thinking up these ridiculous names for the site? What on earth does UsvsTh3m mean? Is it supposed to be Us vs Them? Even then it doesn’t mean anything. Is ampp3d supposed to be Ampped? Again, stupid name. Data visualisation around political stories sounds like a thrill-a-minute type of site – I’m sure it will be hugely exciting for everyone who uses it.
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“make journalism more accessible through data visualisations and infographics”
Sounds very Brass Eye.
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While I hate the name – it sounds like something a 13-year-old has come up with – I think the reaction on here is a bit bizarre.
Let me guess, the previous posters are all over the age of 40, perhaps 50? You still think Twitter is nonsense, that the web is a fad and that Photoshop is somewhere you take to develop photographs?
The internet now is reliant on fast information in bite size chunks, evident in the way Twitter forces everything into 140 characters and people share information in their 1000s.
I can think of plenty of data examples relating to politics that would much more interesting in a graphic than in words.
Will it replace mainstream journalism? Of course not. But if it helps get buy-in from web users and support a brand, then go for it.
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I think the idea is to create something new with the potential to make money. You know, actually gain an audience with something new and then sell on the back of that. Surely this is better than doing nothing new? I don’t really think the names matters that much. UsvsTh3m, I agree, it’s quite a clunky name, is proving a success in gaining an audience. They just need to make some cash with it now. Which is the issue facing all these projects.
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WTF. Another head for enough is enough’s desk
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Headbangingly brilliant comments…made my day!
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Aaah what a surprise… total negativity about a good idea.
The blinkered nature of most commenters on here never ceases to (not) surprise me.
How about ‘that sounds like a good idea and a way of engaging with those young people who NEVER buy a paper, thus helping to make sure papers survive?’.
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“The internet now is reliant on fast information in bite size chunks, evident in the way Twitter forces everything into 140 characters and people share information in their 1000s.”
Translated: “A stream of garbled, mangled soundbites based on ill-considered speculation, unsubstantiated gossip or jokes, which some media bosses seem to think constitutes news.”
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Digger – Yes, you’re right on what looks like a blinkered nature of comments here – that’s what varifocals give you at a certain age.
And you are bang on about employing new ways of engaging young people to get the ‘news’ habit (though I think we can safely forget them getting the ‘news-paper’ habit).
But I would guess the majority of posters with what we might call a less than joyful tone on some of the stuff on HTFP, are probably 50-ish or just below?
Perhaps they were more optimistic in their youth, wide-eyed and open to new ideas and many can look back to a ‘golden age’ when newsrooms were full and circulation up? The world moves on, times change and so does your personal outlook.
But I doubt that any generation in journalism has witnessed as enduring, steep and accelerating period of decline. Some, but not all because of outside economic factors, social change and technology.
Some of it because of entrenched ideas in management and on the newsroom floor. But in the main it is down to the de-humanising of production and process of something that used to really matter.
Any journalist worth their salt I have ever known has been cynical, questioning and often a pain in the a**e. But whether sub or reporter, they live and work in a real world offline human society. And they care about it.
BTW can I applaud HTFP with its continued coverage of these important issues.
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“Writing Ampped as ampp3d is a really cool idea and will be totally hip and edgy and down with the kids – everyone loves leet!”
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I really am getting too old….. wtf is socially shareable data journalism. when it’s at home…. cue hysterical giggles.
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Infographics? You would think it was something new. 25 years ago I worked for an editor who thought infographics were the way to a brave new world – until he found how much it cost to produce a good one.
Can I suggest the first project for this ground-breaking new site – an infographic showing how many of the 3m unique users of UsvsTh3m in October went on to take out subscriptions to Trinity Mirror’s newspapers. No more than 140 characters on the infographic, naturally.
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Sutler, I don’t think you can compare the costs of the 80s to today.
People can take information from thousands of sources and bung it into an easy to read format in minutes, using their own laptop computer. There’s no need for calculators, pencils or protractors.
Confused, you’re right. The “world moves on, times change”, sadly many HTFP readers don’t want to move with it.
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Is this something to do with Ceefax?
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Hilarious!
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