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Pointer uses Revue for email campaign management. Revue lacked a Drupal integration, up until now. We created the Drupal module for Revue, which got published open source.
Data journalism has become an invaluable asset to today’s journalism. The Panama Papers and LuxLeaks for example, hugely impact the news and investigative journalism. In this field Dutch broadcaster KRO-NCRV has a solid reputation and much experience. Their data journalists will be using (big) data to report on Dutch topics, both online and on television. Their new format is called Pointer.
About the project
Large quantities of data can help zoom in on very specific details on virtually any topic. It also allows for overview and distinguishing trends. The KRO-NCRV editorial staff supports their existing formats with data journalism. Recent accolades by the Global Editors Network placed them among the most successful data journalists in the world. Dutch broadcast networks NPO2 and KRO-NCRV have put data journalism centerstage of their news and journalism formats. They also acknowledge the significance of it for innovation. The latest format is called Pointer, which will offer interactive stories based in investigative journalism supported by a television format.
Visual stories
Pointer pursues visual storytelling based on data in an understandable way. Their aim is to bring stories that anyone can relate to, because they happen to touch the lives of everyone. Pointer editors will publish across online platforms available to them, using any suitable form, such as text, interactive graphics, short form video, podcasts etcetera. Pointer will be a benchmark in Europe for data research and data visualisations. At the same time they will maintain a strong foundation for existing formats like De Monitor, Spraakmakers, Taalstaat and Brandpunt+.
“In 2019 we will be investigating the illegal fishing practises. One third of fish caught worldwide is illegal. The Global Fishing Watch publishes data useful for analysis and investigate journalism. Our project will focus on fish imported through the port of Rotterdam destined to be sold on the European market. “
— KRO-NCRV, Pointer
Online
The website will continuously offer new content, a place of visually appealing and well structured journalism. Every post will be visually augmented in order to make it quickly understandable for the public readers at large. Users are enticed to get involved: expert opinions are welcomed to be added to the relevant topics. The website is a playground for new means of investigative journalism. The Pointer team will remain agile and will adapt new methods, topics and visualisations based on insights and new developments.
Television
Several television broadcasts will be supported by Pointer’s data research. Digital visualisations will dissect their investigations step-by-step. The television format will be hosted by one of the investigators, taking viewers along the routes of the investigation and adding his or her own interpretations to them.
The website will be an essential support mechanism for the TV broadcasts, simultaneously offering backgrounds on methods and data. The ultimate goal is to bring verifiable and transparent investigative journalism to a broad audience, allowing people to get involved.
LimoenGroen was contracted to create the the Pointer website in 2019.
Why Drupal was chosen
KRO-NCRV uses Drupal for a lot of her websites, including Boer Zoekt Vrouw, BinnensteBuiten and Jinek. Drupal was chosen partly because editors already knew how to manage content with it, but mainly because it was easy to use and extend.
Technical Specifications
Drupal version:
Key modules/theme/distribution used:
By using paragraphs, editors can easily create stunning pages with several building blocks. We created simple paragraphs using core fields, to let editors add images, videos or quotes. We also created advanced paragraphs, to be able to add a newsletter signup form in the content, or to add external CSS/JS (more on this later).
Focal Point is used to let editors define the most important part of an uploaded image. By doing so, Drupal creates several versions of an image. Using the responsive images module from Drupal core, users will be served the ideal image based on the screen size of their device.
