Remembering JFK in style: interactive approaches to the anniversary

The 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F Kennedy is a news event that should have been in the diaries of news outlets for, well, 50 years. Here is a selection of the best interactive features from around the web.

National Geographic


Screenshot from kennedyandoswald.com

The National Geographic's interactive documentary is a sprawling multimedia account of Oswald and Kennedy's lives, through youth, military service, marriage and fatherhood until both men's deaths in late November 1963.

Opening with a reading of 'I Have A Rendezvous With Death' – supposedly one of Kennedy's favourite poems – the interactive divides the men's lives into six soundtracked chapters that the reader scrolls through, stopping along the way to watch video or view embedded images, audio, video and text.

Associated Press


Screenshot from AP.org

The Associated Press's feature is also strongly visual, if less immersive than that from the National Geographic. AP focuses on how the organisation reported on the events of the day, through galleries, audio and an interactive map, presented in a full-browser, scrollable page.



NBC


Screenshot from NBCNews.com

NBC collects original footage and interviews with more than 50 individuals – including eye witnesses, doctors, police, ex-presidents and celebrities – to tell the various stories of Kennedy's life and death.

Viewers can select videos to view individually or have them linked by topic such as 'life and legacy', 'Kennedy mystique' and 'conspiracy theories'.

The Times


Screenshot from TheTimes.co.uk

The Times retells Kennedy's original, 1963 obituary in an interactive video (£). As a narrator reads the obituary, which is accessible as a PDF through the interactive, a video shows relevant footage and images, while extra content is accessible at various points throughout the video.

Belo Corp


Screenshot from kgw.com

The media conglomerate Belo Corp, which owns 20 local television stations across the US, teaches a good lesson in how local media can cover large topics cohesively while still providing a local angle.

Many stations feature a combination of: a timeline of events made with Timeline JS, a syndicated interactive from the AP, an annotated Google map and locally relevant stories.

Slate


Screenshot from Slate.com

Slate's interactive map documents the social and political climate of 1960s Dallas – "the city that killed Kennedy" –  by complementing key points around the city with excerpts from the recent book Dallas 1963.

Dallas News


Screenshot from DallasNews.com

The interactive timeline on the Dallas News website plots hundreds of individual accounts, photos and videos from 22 November to 25 November, detailing events, reaction and footage before and after Kennedy's death.

Star Telegram


Screenshot from Star-Telegram.com

The Star Telegram in Fort Worth, where Oswald lived upon returning from Russia, has created a number of interactive features for the anniversary, detailing the route the Kennedys took, panoramas of famous sites, information on the motorcade and a remembrance page where people can leave their memories of the day.

Reuters


Screenshot from Reuters.com

The collection of "iconic JFK images" that Reuters has chosen are complemented by a then-and-now feature, as new photos are laid-over the originals and the reader can compare the two with a virtual slider.

Feel free to share any other interesting or immersive interactive features in the comments below.

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