"Ninety per­cent of peo­ple in Wash­ing­ton are sodomites"

Dedicated reporting to one dossier at at time leads to diverse stories with fascinating angles and backgrounds. The fresh online concept that a group of reporters called Coda initiated makes it hard to stop reading.

We love innovation at TT HQ, and it usually comes with experiments, like the beautiful online dossier Coda has produced. The richness of a form like the dossier is a well appreciated form in the reporting industry. Many brands have a beautiful tradition in presenting a full-blown story on one issue, especially in the US and Germany they know their ways.

Coda Story translated this concept onto the web and, in their own words, is a ‘single-issue web platform that puts a team of journalists on one crisis at a time, …, providing unique depth, continuity and understanding to events that shape our world.’ The kick-off we are looking at is providing many articles and video’s on the LGBTQ Rights issue in Russia, produced form different locations in e.g. Russia, UK and USA.

Well said, and totally comprehensible. Some other things are not, but first, kudo’s for the simple gesture to put all the information that is produced within the editorial team on one topic together on one dedicated site. When the thoughts come up like: “Why didn’t w e see that earlier”, it is a powerful message-to-self that the initiative is very appreciated. This sounds like the start of a series.

The site provides a great frame for good storytelling, that is better understood when it is comfortable for the reader to understand what he is looking at. Good stories flourish when presented in the right context, and this quality content provides the right Umfeld, in the case of Coda.

The content could contain more varied forms, like audio and infographics to make it really multimedia, but the stories are well written and filmed, with diverse angles and backgrounds. Like the piece from David Tuller, who lived in Moscow in 1991 as a reporter for The San Fran­cisco Chron­i­cle and writes about his viewpoints on the LGBTQ issue from the inside. Or the fascinating story of Katerina Patin about a 50 minute movie on the most important state-owned television channel.

The navigation of the platform might feel a bit complex, it needs some exploration, but this is done in a manner that feels soft ’n’ sweet, never rocky. On certain locations the UX-design is somewhat over the top, like when an article is read, new ‘cards’ or ‘pages’ come up form under the page. On the other hand, interaction is truly engaging. But a second look on user friendliness may be a step up for the whole experience.

What does the future of Coda bring though? When does a project end (never?) and what will happen when a new project comes up? How will this be presented? I would like to experience the same host (quality), and feel a continue connection to these earlier visits. I wouldn't want to loose the effort I put into it.

The site ends with a fresh and clear mission: ‘Coda wants to be a stand-alone voice which helps to define a crisis.’

The brand team at Coda has its focus razor sharp.