Michiel van der Ros
Bio
Michiel van der Ros likes to employ his digital skills for more than just commercial work. In close cooperation with journalists, he has developed many online documentaries and educational games. His goal is to make important stories reach new audiences.
The stories range from the forgotten genocide in Darfur and women's rights to the dirty secrets of gold mining and basmati rice. Some projects are powered with technology funded by organisations like the Google Digital News Initiative and Free Press Unlimited.
A range of educational games are now used in schools throughout the country and have been awarded with the Comenius EduMedia Award, N.O.T. Innovation Award and others.
Together with the other enthusiasts of Hackastory he helps running journalism hackathons as far away as Austin. Besides working as a freelance web- and game developer in Amsterdam for international companies such as TomTom, he also loves yearly trips to Brighton, kitesurfing and fire juggling.
Session
Digital storytelling and journalism
Storytelling has been a red line throughout human history. The mediums that carry our stories keep changing and evolving. Cinematography has become a science, but the possibilities of storytelling on the web are a massive field of exploration and opportunity.
Meanwhile, journalism is under pressure to reinvent itself. Digital long-reads, interactives and virtual reality are making an impact, but producing them is not a straightforward process.
For about ten years Michiel has been working with journalists to tell their stories interactively. Interview a refugee on your phone and decide if (s)he can stay. Follow a female runner training for an ultra-marathon in Afghanistan. Learn how gold mining is killing park rangers in Congo.
This session will take you on a journey through the topic of digital storytelling and journalism, illustrated with examples and behind-the-scenes footage. We'll also get into digital tools you could use, new technologies we developed and the unexpected twists these projects can take.
