The future of the article is dynamic
Product Initiative Newsletter Blog | 21 January 2025
Hi there.
It’s been a rough couple of weeks in Los Angeles. Thanks for all the well wishes. My family is fine, and the city is starting to rebuild. There is a lot to digest in our lives and also in terms of how the information ecosystem worked around this news topic. I’ll have more on that soon as everything settles.
Today, I want to look beyond the article. We are moving to more dynamic experiences, and I want to highlight two examples I think are worth paying attention to and learning from. These aren’t interactive graphics. There are very specifically articles that can be interacted with.
In product terms, these are the first tests. They are likely one-offs that are not yet built as a product or as part of the newsroom suite of tools that can be delivered seamlessly. We don’t know what level of interactility was expected or what they resulted in. We do know they were collaboration efforts across multiple departments. And the thing I am most impressed by is the design. Bringing a vast amount of functionality into a simple UX is no mean feat.
Are you working on something like this? I’d love to hear about it. You can reach me at Jodie.hopperton@INMA.org.
Best, Jodie
Why Every’s “extendable articles” are worth paying attention to
We have seen a number of organisations introduce answer engines, some of which help readers go deeper on content. But I recently noticed a site going one step further: In addition to being able to interrogate the current and past articles, New York-based Every allows people to look at all the sourcing of the article through its “extendable articles.”
For readers, it means they can go down rabbit holes of information as they wish. And for writers, it means they can share their key findings and perspective, while also allowing the reader to see how or why they reached those conclusions.
Here’s the idea: Extendable Articles let readers interact directly with the source materials behind a story. Think transcripts of interviews, original research, even the nitty-gritty details most journalists keep behind the scenes. But it’s not just citing the sources; it’s allowing people to interrogate the sources directly. Every is using AI-powered chatbots to let readers ask their own questions about the article and get tailored responses.
Why does this matter? Because it tackles a few issues head-on:
Trust: In an age when audiences are more skeptical of media than ever, giving them a direct line to the sources fosters transparency. It says, “Here’s how we got here — go ahead, take a look for yourself.”
Engagement: For topics people are curious or passionate amount, it allows them to truly engage in the content, likely creating more time on-site
Design: This method keeps the interface clean. It’s easy and intuitive to navigate rather than having to show many different format options, making navigation overly complex and design clumsy.
Every has already used this format for a piece called The Religion of Ramp, which breaks down the SaaS company’s rise. Alongside the narrative, readers can access all the interviews and research that informed it. It’s a little like pulling back the curtain on journalism, something which could be applied more broadly across the industry.
This will take some work and not every news organisation is going to have the resources to build something quite like this right now. But the concept itself is worth exploring. What if we thought of transparency as a product feature? What if we leaned into our audiences’ curiosity, allowing them to decide when and how deep they want to go, in which direction?
It’s early days for Extendable Articles, but this is one example of how to rethink how we present information and how we engage readers. The tools to build trust and foster loyalty are out there — we just need to take the leap. Find out more about Extendable Articles here.
Date for the diary: January 29 Webinar on how to build a strong product brand
In a free to members Webinar from outstanding marketeer and advisor to major entertainment CEOs and CMOs in Los Angeles, James Stephens gives us specific tips to create stand-out brands using our products and data.
I highly recommend tuning in. This is an update to one of the most enrapturing presentations on our Los Angeles executive study tour. Sign up here.
A breakdown of Time’s interactive person of the year article
Last month, Burhan Hamid, chief technology officer at Time, announced how they were updating the experience around Time’s iconic person of the year: “You can read the article in seven different languages at varying lengths, you can listen to and speak with (!) the article via AI audio, and, of course, you can chat with Time AI about this year’s Person of the Year, Donald Trump.”
You can see the article here. It’s still very much an article, but it’s moved from a static article page with embellishments such as photos and videos to something much more dynamic. It is an article for all readers that also allows individual readers to form their own personalised experience.
No time to read? Here’s the summary. Want a different language? Here it is. You want a different format? Fine. Questions about the article? Go for it.
But it’s not overcrowding the space available with buttons and icons and options. There is a simple menu of choices as part of the main navigation. At the top, the navigation has a simple moving red “snake” to draw attention. Once the user scrolls down, it becomes sticky.
This isn’t just adding features. It’s actually restructuring the experience. It puts the user at the center. Not asking them what they want to know but allowing them to take action or ask follow-up questions.
This, to me, is exactly what news needs: an informed jumping off point that readers can then take in their direction.
It is also worth noting the guardrails on the chat. A few people commented that the chat struggled, probably intentionally, with topics outside of the specific article, noting it was “guarded by Scale AI” and giving the same response: “I’m here to discuss Donald Trump and the Time Person of the Year article. If you have questions about him or related topics, feel free to ask.” I’m assuming this was deliberate as part of its AI guardrails.
You can read more about how it was made here.
About this newsletter
Today’s newsletter is written by Jodie Hopperton, based in Los Angeles and lead for the INMA Product and Tech Initiative. Jodie will share research, case studies, and thought leadership on the topic of global news media product.
This newsletter is a public face of the Product and Tech Initiative by INMA, outlined here. E-mail Jodie at jodie.hopperton@inma.org with thoughts, suggestions, and questions. Sign up to our Slack channel.