John Wooden the Indiana Story

IndyStar.com/wooden

James W. Brown Innovation Award submission July 30, 2010

John Wooden: The Indiana Story

As Pacers announcer Bob Slick Leonard puts it, Johnny Wooden IS Indiana basketball. The Indianapolis Stars 35-minute, five-chapter video documentary shows how. Through hundreds of photos, archival video and exclusive interviews with Larry Bird, Steve Alford, Bobby Plump, Slick Leonard and other Hoosier luminaries, John Wooden: The Indiana Story details the coachs formative years in Centerton and Martinsville, and how he married his high school sweetheart in Indianapolis. It shows his heroics at Purdue, and his little-known years as a barnstorming pro basketball star. It shows how he enlisted in the World War II effort and but for a last-minute twist of fate would have been aboard an aircraft carrier that met with disaster. And it reveals, in an unforgettable way, how Wooden helped break down a national color barrier while at Indiana State. This is an American legend, voted by The Sporting News as the greatest coach of all-time in any sport. And this is his Indiana story, showing how he touched virtually every part of the state before going west to make history.

John Wooden: The Indiana Story

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subject merited such coverage, it was Wooden, who personified so manyOF THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR A VIDEO PRODUCTION qualities Hoosiers hold dear. Thanks to the early start and massive preparation, it paid off. In March, Green and digital news director Jon Sweeney cold-called WFYI, the Indianapolis PBS affiliate, with an early draft of the documentary. The station president liked it, and there quickly developed a plan to collaborate on an added-value broadcast: WFYI would turn it into a full-hour show by adding a panel of experts to discuss the documentary and Wooden in general. This way readers who would have already seen the video on IndyStar.com would have reason to watch the WFYI presentation. WFYIs entrance gave The Stars advertising department a huge boost. Reps could now tout a multiplatform Wooden package: print, online and broadcast, each with unique, sponsor-able content. A single sponsor was sought as the most respectful approach for such a commemoration, and one was quickly landed for $35,000. Thus everything was in place early -- which proved critical.

ohn Wooden has been called the most influential Hoosier ever. A year before his 100th birthday, IndyStar.com embarked on a documentary tribute that ended up breaking new ground in both content and reach -- getting the video out to millions of people who might not otherwise have seen it, and boosting The Stars national profile. It also made money through sponsorship and DVD sales, and, perhaps best, fostered a relationship with PBS that could benefit The Star for years to come. John Wooden: The Indiana Story, by digital projects editor Ted Green and photographer Sam Riche, told the little-known story of the basketball coachs formative years as a Hoosier before he ascended to worldwide fame at UCLA. From an original plan for six minutes, it grew into a 35-minute piece featuring hundreds of photos, archival video footage, a fulllength musical score and interviews with Wooden, Larry Bird, Steve Alford, Slick Leonard and several other Hoosier luminaries. It was a nontraditional approach for newspapers, to say the least, and with a tricky deadline: It was targeted for Woodens 100th birthday on Oct. 14, but had to be ready for immediate publication if he didnt reach it. But editors determined that if any

The Indiana Story

Word of Woodens rapidly deteriorating health came June 2, and two nights later he passed. The documentary posted overnight on IndyStar.com, and with heavy promotion on Twitter, Facebook and other social media it quickly received national acclaim. It was picked up by usatoday.com and several other Gannett properties. The WFYI broadcast, originally slated for August, was hustled together for the following Friday. Throughout the week The Star ran print and digital promos to the show, and WFYI ran radio and TV spots heralding a special presentation of Star coverage.

submitted to American Public Television. That will be previewed in early August, and with enough thumbs up it would broadcast nationally in November or December bringing another, bigger-fish sponsor opportunity. Altogether, the Star-PBS collaboration went so well that its prompted top-brass talks about future endeavors. From The Stars perspective, this could be a godsend: pairing our unmatched local knowledge (much of it gathering dust in our library) with an outlet that has high demand for such serious, nonsound-bite journalism, plus would extend our reach with the public and sponsors.

In other words, it can help us show off what we do best local content -- in a way that makes money. Its video that can work for newspapers, at a time when so many other attempts have failed. As a IndyStar.com/Wooden viewer from Los Angeles Meanwhile, The wrote: I have seen and/or Stars marketing department made DVDs. They read every every tribute, video, eulogy, etc. (about cost $3 each, sold for $10, and the first batch of 500 Wooden), and I can say without a doubt that none was gone within two weeks. Copies were requested of them comes close to touching The Stars video and sent to the Indiana State Library, the Morgan tribute in depth, accuracy, sincerity and respect. I County Public Library, the Morgan County Histori- thank the citizens of Indiana for sharing him with cal Society, the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, and the rest of us. the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. Not every subject has the universal appeal of John Wooden, of course. But theres no question that this The WFYI airing also was a hit. The station doesnt project has opened new doors to ways in which we subscribe to a ratings service, but a vice president can prove our value and integrate ourselves into said it was easily among its most-watched proreaders lives. ductions of the year. Its slated to run statewide in early August, and a slightly trimmed version was Thanks for your consideration.