Digital Storytelling
Digital Storytelling is an initiative to create and distribute rich, interactive, informative, and inspiring stories told from new and unique human perspectives about the impact of U.S. foreign policy for foreign and domestic audiences.
Our goal is to communicate our policy priorities to audiences in ways that engage, resonate, and inspire, by applying the time-tested tenets of storytelling to today’s interactive technology. In late April, the Digital Lab launched the first of four stories as part of the Digital Storytelling Pilot.
How Well Do You Know the United Nations?
Released during the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, this story reprises the quiz component to engage visitors in learning about the UN. The story included a custom “share my score” button to reduce the friction for users who want to brag about how well the did on the quiz.
182 Days
August 24 is Ukraine’s national day, a holiday celebrating its declaration of independence from the U.S.S.R. in 1991. This year, that historic date also marks six months since the start of Russia’s unprovoked and illegal invasion. This story uses stark images and monochromatic overlays to emphasize Russian brutality in the war.
This digital story is also available in Russian and Ukrainian.
Test Your Knowledge of the U.S. Department of State
This story was a departure from previous efforts. Directed at a U.S. audience, it details the services provided by the Department of State and includes a custom quiz component that conveys information in a fun and memorable way.
What is Food Security?
This story introduces the concept of food security, which is having enough safe and nutritious food to eat. It goes on to describe how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has increased food insecurity and shows what the U.S. and its partners are doing to address the crisis.
This digital story is also available in Arabic, Chinese, French, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Ukrainian.
This is a Warning
In our next story, we exposed the lies that Russian officials are spreading about Putin’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. We directly countering government-sponsored messages on social media and messaging apps that paint Russia as a generous humanitarian actor remedying the suffering caused by Ukraine’s government.
This digital story is also available in Arabic, French, Kiswahili, Russian, and Ukrainian.
What is a “Special Military Operation”?
This interactive narrative that juxtaposes official Kremlin statements about the Russian invasion of Ukraine with images of the harsh reality on the ground created shockwaves on social media when it was shared with the public.
This digital story is also available in Russian.
From Blue to Green: Transforming Jobs Around the World
In this digital story, produced in partnership with GPA Content (GPA/CN), you’ll meet two people on the front lines of the green jobs revolution — Tim, a construction foreman from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Sandra, a renewable energy specialist from Bogotá, Colombia. Despite the miles that separate them, Tim and Sandra and the communities they represent share much in common.
This digital story is also available in Spanish.