An Innovative Article Presentation

When the reporters and videographers finished writing the series and editing the videos, they found themselves left with boxes of valuable primary source material: Actual letters between Ted and his mother, video of him eulogizing brother Bobby, and never-before-seen photographs from Chappaquiddick, to name a few. Already available in video playlists and teased throughout the site, we realized the article pages could be made more compelling if these mo- ments were inserted right into context with the stories. Reading about Ted's rousing speech at the 1984 Democratic National Convention? Look to the right and you can play the video and watch for yourself. Riveted by a passage detailing JFK's assassination? Just slide your eyes to see the front page of The Boston Globe from the day he died; click to make it bigger.

Sprinkling these media elements into long stories — each was about 7,000 words — made each chapter feel less daunting, more like reading a magazine story. The reader gets an overview of the story simply by browsing the pull quotes, mini-slideshows and captions in the right rail. This presentation put the story, the most-viewed single piece of content each day, at the center of the universe with all the day's relevant material orbiting around it.