The Sunday Times story surrounding our embattled health minister has been a good example of integrated journalism. The newspaper broke the big story, yet the online presence went further than just plonking a repeat of the story on the web.

Nowadays, media companies are publishing source material and the original supporting documentation of their stories with increasingly regularity. The Sunday Times website is no exception, having scanned source documents relating to the story, including legal letters, court documents and full statements. These don’t always make for riveting reading, but at least demonstrates transparency that further builds trust between a publication and its readers. It also puts the paper on a more solid legal footing if the source documents for a story are there for all to see.

Secondly, I was interested in a video interview with Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya here by Fred Khumalo, which I think added to the overall story. I’ve read Mondli’s columns, I’ve read the story — but here he was in the virtual flesh, talking to me. I may be wrong, but is this — a newspaper editor being interviewed by his own website via online video for background on a major story — a South African first?

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Matthew Buckland

Matthew Buckland

Matthew Buckland is the former GM of the Mail & Guardian Online and co-founder of award-winning blog aggregator amatomu.com and editorial blog Thought...

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