Channel 4 launches 4NewsWall
Category: News Release
22 April 2015
Unique Channel 4 News platform aimed at 16-34 year olds
Channel 4 today announces 4NewsWall, a brand new online news platform that delivers the day’s stories for the first time in bite-sized, shareable GIFs – hosted on Tumblr.
Aimed at Channel 4 News’ key demographic of 16-34 year olds, 4NewsWall bolsters the news programme’s successful strategy of delivering engaging news content across an array of online platforms.
4Creative’s Jack Croft and Stacey Bird (winners of Creative Circle’s most promising creative newcomers last year) are behind the idea and have teamed up with 4creative’s illustrator and designer Chris Rice to deliver the unique digital platform which allows users to share news stories in a brand new and engaging way across social media.
The trio have relocated to ITN Productions’ HQ to work closely with the team who make Channel 4 News. ITN are curating the day’s news stories for the 4Creative team to transform into GIFs.
Users of 4NewsWall are able to interact with each GIF by clicking through to a longer précis of the story. From there, they can link back to the Channel 4 News website or other popular online news sources, as well as trending twitter hashtags.
Jack and Stacey said: “Working on 4NewsWall has been one hell of learning process. Between us we've had to learn not just the processes behind making the GIFs but also the journalistic element of the site.
Creating a GIF for a serious news story has been a very tricky learning curve. The tone of voice is crucial and between the copy and the GIF itself we try to work in unison to create a news GIF that represents the feisty spirit of Channel 4 News that will also appeal to a younger, more distracted audience.
As a team, including Channel 4 News, we work to turn a GIF around as quickly as possible - it's probably the most on-the-fly way we have ever had to work. And despite at times our eyes feeling like they are going to fall out of our heads we have found trying to beat our previous GIF quite addictive. In fact we barely leave our desks and we've started to dream in Photoshop and talk in GIFs.”
Dorothy Byrne, Head of News and Current Affairs, Channel 4 said: “This is a brilliant collaboration between two different award-winning teams – 4Creative and Channel 4 News – who have created a truly innovative product which both informs and entertains.”
Olivia Browne, Group Business Director at 4Creative said: “We wanted to find an innovative way of reaching a younger demographic with the news - that spoke their language, and went to where they were. News in GIFs had never been done before, and we liked the purity of an animated headline that distilled the news down to the heart of the story and could also be engaging, entertaining, and at times irreverent.”
Ends.
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4NewsWall credits:
Executive Creative Directors: Chris Bovill & John Allison
Group Business Director: Olivia Browne
Creatives: Stacey Bird, Jack Croft & Chris Rice
Digital Producer: Christos Savvides
Project Managers: Azka Malik & Helen Otter
Digital Production Partner: Resn
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