PROJECT CASE STUDY:
Flux
Project Overview:
We created a prototype that could be a source for news seekers to find everything they need to know in one destination, powered by a public media article aggregator, a news and documentary digital channel, and an interactive live streaming portal for hosting virtual town hall events with live chat.
Opportunities
Flux makes it easier to find local news on a topic and have a discussion about what it means, this could position PBS as the dominate source of relevant, accurate, local based reporting that people desire.
Prototype: Flux
Flux is a public media news aggregator with a focus on articles, where PBS journalists from member stations can add more context to stories with additional content like images, videos, YouTube, Reddit, and TikTok.
How It Works:
Instead of visiting 10 sites to see what's new, you view a single page and filter your choice of topics into a stack then view articles from trusted public media sources both local and national.
Key Features:
- A snippet of the article is shown with links out to source
- A home page alert will show breaking news on your topic
- An article page alert will show other relevant stories
Major Findings
Flux gives PBS member stations a place to showcase their work and to engage in a dialogue with their audiences.
Prototype Takeaways
What Went Well:
Working with the General Audience Programing team to design a prototype using the latest technology in interactive video and live streaming.
What Were The Challenges:
Fostering democracy, civic discourse and trust in news is a big vision, so we needed to narrow down and refining the project goals into clear features.
What Needs Improvement:
Further exploration is needed for comments, moderation and distribution. Each are worthy of their experiment or prototype.