Broken By Design: Fixing The Unplanned Internet

Q: What piece of technology has done more to shape news and general web design than anything else?

A: The banner ad.

From dictating how websites take form to possibly hacking elections, never have so few pixels had so large an impact. Yet much of that impact was unplanned. In this workshop, Aram Zucker-Scharff of The Washington Post will dive into the mess digital advertising has made of the internet and the journalism industry, and look at where it all began. Participants will run through the factors that dictate where ads should be placed on a page and what restrictions are on them, and will examine the ethical and creative challenges involved in digital ad integration. Then, they’ll explore the practice of how to create safe, profitable media products.

*Participants must bring their own laptops to take part in this workshop.*

This workshop is the first in a three-part event series hosted by Journalism + Design. Attendance at all three events is encouraged, but not required. Register here for Session II and here for Session III.

Aram Zucker-Scharff is the Ad Engineering Director for the Research, Experimentation and Development (RED) team at The Washington Post. He leads the creation of platforms and code related to advertising technology for The Post and its partners, including the launch of the new podcast monetization service Rhapsochord. He is also the lead developer for the open-source tool PressForward and has been a consultant on content strategy and digital newsroom workflows.