Digital sidebars

Amid all the turbulent change in print and online journalism, the loyal print fanatic in me sometimes has no answer to digital dazzle.

If you want to take an entertaining little break, dial up the video accompanying The New York Times' June 28^th Sunday Magazine piece on New York Yankees’ star Mariano Rivera, who, the article says, “is widely considered the greatest relief pitcher in the history of baseball.” (Find the link to the video here.)

The video animation describes Rivera’s killer pitch--called a cutter--and how he manages to dominate (and fool) hitters over and over again. It’s a great piece of work—interesting even for non-baseball fans, I think.

How can you argue against the potential of digital journalism when you get this kind of goodie as a sidebar? Words cannot match these visuals for explanatory power. The days of freelancers suggesting only print sidebars in their queries are fading.

-- Ron Kovach, senior editor, The Writer

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