A few years into my time at ABC 10News, our team took on a story that could have easily become a single explainer and moved on.

The U.S. Geological Survey had modeled a megastorm scenario for California — an ARkStorm — that would make most natural disasters look modest by comparison. Flooding on a scale the state hadn’t seen in recorded history. Infrastructure failures. Entire neighborhoods inundated for days.

The science was compelling, but a single article wasn’t going to help audiences understand what it actually meant for San Diego.

So instead of filing one piece, we built a reporting ecosystem around it. A central explainer broke down the science. Impact stories focused on infrastructure, housing and communities most at risk. An interactive slider let audiences explore before-and-after sea level rise along the local coastline. Visuals and maps turned abstract risk into something tangible and local.

Each element answered a specific question. Together they formed something more than a story — a structure audiences could actually move through.

That project wasn’t a departure from how we worked. It was an example of what that approach could accomplish when everything came together.

It’s Systems Work

The biggest mistake I’ve seen teams make is treating multimedia as decoration — video here, a photo gallery there, maybe an interactive if time allows. Elements get added after the fact, bolted onto stories that were designed as text from the start.

The work that held audiences longest started somewhere different. Not with “what should we post?” but with a more fundamental question: what structure does this story need to be fully understood?

That question reframes everything. It shifts the conversation from assets to architecture. From format to purpose. From what’s possible to what’s actually needed.

At 10News, it meant planning digital projects as complete reporting packages from the beginning — not single articles with multimedia attached, but immersive experiences designed to reward audiences who chose to spend time with them. Reporters understood their work could power multiple platforms. Multimedia and interactive elements were part of the reporting process, not afterthoughts. Promotion and presentation were considered early, not scrambled together after publication.

The result wasn’t just better individual stories. It was a team that knew how to collaborate on ambitious work without burning out.

The Same Principle Travels

When I moved into higher education communications at San Diego State University, the mission was different but the framework held.

Coverage planning around affinity months, major campus events and commencement followed the same structure — define the core narrative, identify supporting stories, plan multimedia in advance, build packages that could live across platforms over time. That consistency helped elevate the work and contributed to award-winning coverage, including commencement content recognized by CASE.

Different environment, same principle: intentional design creates space for excellence.

A Quick-Reference Guide

What strong digital storytelling looks like in practice:

• Start with the question “what structure does this story need?” not “what should we post?”
• Plan multimedia as part of reporting, not a finishing touch
• Every element should answer a specific audience question — if it doesn’t, cut it
• Build for depth and portability — strong work should travel across platforms without falling apart
• Promotion and presentation belong in the planning conversation, not the post-publication scramble

What gets in the way:

• Treating digital as a place to republish broadcast or print content
• Adding multimedia because it’s available, not because it adds understanding
• Designing for the tool instead of the audience
• Waiting until after publication to think about reach

What teams that do this well have in common:

• Shared standards, not just shared deadlines
• Reporters who understand how their work powers other platforms
• A willingness to ask “what experience are we building?” before “what are we filing?”

Why It Still Matters

Tools will change. Formats will evolve. Platforms will fragment further and audience attention will get harder to earn.

But the teams that understand how to design stories as interconnected systems — where each element serves the whole — will keep producing work that stands out. Not because they mastered every new feature, but because they built structures that let strong reporting shine, wherever and however audiences encounter it.