MediaStorm, in partnership with the Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY) and Transformative presents US-Russia Relations: The Quest for Stability, the definitive guide to US-Russia relations. 
 
This project leverages Carnegie’s unparalleled access to issue-area expertise, with MediaStorm’s storytelling capabilities, to create a communications toolset that offers historical content, fact-based journalism, and potential solutions to the current impasse in US-Russia relations. Powered by the MediaStorm Platform, this responsive, interactive experience showcases video, timeline, audio, interactive charts and maps, to explore why US-Russia relations are critical to the preservation of American democracy and global stability. 

Published: June 19, 2019

In the wake of the 2016 Presidential election, news about Russian interference flooded U.S. news channels, inundating the public with a limited perspective on what’s at stake with deteriorating relations. The Carnegie Corporation of New York, with its dedication to the advancement of knowledge, committed to fostering a deeper public understanding of U.S.-Russia relations. To this end, it sought to create an engaging, interactive site that shed light on this issue. Drawing on his experiences working with MediaStorm to create award-winning interactive packages, CCNY fellow Michael Moran spearheaded a partnership that has resulted in this site. In searching for a partner to execute this ambitious, multi-year project, Moran said:

Years of collaboration and over a half dozen large and complex multimedia projects done in partnership with MediaStorm have convinced me that the organization Brian Storm founded in 2005 has no peer. More than a production house, more than an online design or content agency, they work with me to innovate and deliver state-of-the-art content every time, a process that often involves educating the client and breaking new ground with the audience. Simply the best.

The Quest for Stability in US-Russia Relations includes hundreds of hours of original video and data gathered by foremost experts in their fields, and packages it in a way that encourages user engagement. Our team of producers, designers, and developers examined each of the issue areas the project explored–global risks, historical context, economic, cultural, and military factors–and developed tools that were best suited to drill down into that subject. Below, we feature some of the distinguishing factors of this project.

In the era of fake news, this project takes as its moral compass a commitment to expertise and facts. Our team of interviewers, including Michael Moran, Cynthia Lazaroff, and Bruce Allyn, have cumulatively spent decades studying US-Russia relations and developing relationships with experts on both continents. We leveraged these relationships to film interviews with leading figures in foreign policy and governance, including former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of Defense William Perry, and former President of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev.

An elegant, updatable timeline is the key metaphor of the entire project, helping users navigate over 300 years of information describing the evolution of the relationship and milestones. This fully responsive timeline supports integration with many different types of media, including video, graphics, and audio.

Utilizing the latest javascript framework, the interactive map displays multiple layers of information that demonstrates the global ramifications of a deteriorating relationship and its threat to global stability. The zoomable map allows users to explore large amounts of data via a clickable map. The interactive map support more rich media than can be found in most interactive maps, making it the definitive resource on the global costs of US-Russia relations.

Interactive charts and graphs have have been paired with audio commentary from subject matter experts. Users can navigate various sectors in the Russian economy; as well as comparative macro economic trends in both countries. Experts guide users in this interactive experience to break down some of the complex data.

Users can browse through a deep library of video using organized and easy to navigate playlists. Videos are organized in folders allowing users to quickly navigate to topics of interest.

Each chapter features a blend of video and CSS motion graphics that lead users into the experience and encourage immediate engagement with the content.