We believe strongly in the power of slide shows, both as narrative devices and page view drivers. Msnbc.com investigative reporter Bill Dedman recently produced a slide show called “The Clarks: an American story of wealth, scandal and mystery,” and in addition to being an excellent work of journalism, it has garnered 78 million page views. Dedman told Poynter how he ultimately decided that the slide show format would be the best way to tell this oddball story:

“I like to talk stories through before I write them. As I was collecting photos of the Clarks, I kept showing them in a little slide show to my family, to my mother (81) and my daughters (7 and 10). It really helped tell the story.

“I put the photos online to show our projects team at msnbc.com, and photographer Jim Seida said, why don’t we just publish it as a slide show? I was skeptical at first — would that crimp the writing? — but in the end I was advocating doing it this way when the photo team was skeptical. I thought far more people would read through it this way, and it would be worth an experiment.”

I really like that Dedman was given the opportunity to tell the story the way it wanted to be told. “The Clarks” runs 48 slides long. Many stations are stuck to the linear video format, regardless of whether it’s the best way to tell a story. Would your station consider telling a story solely in slide show format if the story called for it? Clearly, there is great success to be had in this format.

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