washingtonpost.com Adds Compelling Multimedia Feature That Offers Interesting Points of View From Everyday People

washingtonpost.com Adds Compelling Multimedia Feature That Offers Interesting Points of View From Everyday People

New 'onBeing' Project Offers High-quality Documentary-style Video; Evolving Series Debuts on Cutting-Edge Video Player

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- washingtonpost.com, the award-winning news and information Web site, today announced a new addition to its growing selection of multimedia content. The feature, "onBeing," is a presentation of observations, lessons and tales offered by everyday people from every walk of life.

The unique videos present the musings, attitudes, passions and quirks of people in an up-close documentary style. Each person speaks to the camera against a stark white background. The uncomplicated presentation intensifies the viewing experience and focuses the spotlight on each person's story without distraction.

It is the first major project brought to life by Rob Curley, vice president of product development, Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive (WPNI). "'onBeing' features extremely intimate and insightful storytelling, and we wanted to create a platform for the videos that intensified the viewing experience," Curley said. "The video player we developed for the project is probably the most sophisticated on the Internet, and it will not only encourage people to watch more often, but will also enable them to share these stories with others."

The videos can be viewed in high or standard definition, and the screen size can be shifted on the fly, without interruption to the segment, simply by clicking and dragging the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. Viewers can download videos in multiple formats, including a ground-breaking way to send them to video phones, share them via e-mail, or suggest their own.

"'onBeing' is an excellent example of how washingtonpost.com utilizes the strengths of the Web to best tell different types of stories. In this case, these powerful personal narratives are best told with high-quality video that viewers can access on any device they want," said Jim Brady, executive editor and vice president, washingtonpost.com. "Only on the Web could we build a video community not limited by time or space. This is a destination our viewers can revisit as it grows and continue to learn new things about the world around them."

New videos will be added each Wednesday without thematic continuity, other than each new person offering their own intriguing point of view. Viewers can toggle through the selections just by moving the mouse over the frames -- pausing at one of the frames initiates a tease before the viewer clicks all the way into the video. An archive page allows easier navigation as the number of videos grows.

Jennifer Crandall, the washingtonpost.com video journalist who developed the idea for "onBeing" and shot and produced the videos, initiates the conversation with her blog and each video allows comments to be posted by viewers, further enabling involvement and creation of community.

The initial four "onBeing" segments are emblematic of how we can learn from each other by sharing experiences and thoughts. Included are:

-- Sister Anne Elizabeth, who tells about a "tug in her heart" that pulled
her into becoming a nun;
-- Katy Chang, a former law student turned cheese maker who tells why she
finds her passion so fascinating;
-- Gio Escalante, a boy aged 7, shares perspective on his own life that
contains wisdom beyond his years; and,
-- Buckley Jeppson, who discusses his view on "being different," as a gay
Mormon.

Find "onBeing" at www.washingtonpost.com/onbeing

About Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive

Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive (WPNI) is the online publishing subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE:WPO). Its mission is to create truly interactive platforms that offer unmatched user experiences by developing editorial products with world-class reporting and award-winning content.

WPNI's news and information sites, which include washingtonpost.com, Slate, Newsweek.com and Budget Travel Online, inform and encourage conversation and debate while reaching millions of unique and active users each month. WPNI properties' long lists of awards include the first-ever Emmy for original video journalism online awarded to washingtonpost.com.

The company is headquartered in Arlington, VA.

Source: Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive

CONTACT: Kris Coratti of Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, Office -
+1-703-469-2763, Mobile - +1-571-236-7035, Kris.Coratti@wpni.com; Maureen Shaw
of Euro RSCG Magnet, Office - +1-212-367-6847, Mobile - +1-410-707-7637,
Maureen.Shaw@eurorscg.com, for Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive

Web site: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/onbeing
http://www.newsweek.com/

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